LA Auto Show - 2011 Hyundai Sonata Gains Efficiency, Grace, Independence

In just two generations, the Hyundai Sonata has developed an important personality trait: confidence. The latest 2011 Sonata has finally found its own independent design language — and it's spoken very smoothly. This decade's earliest Sonatas wore comical faux-Jaguar copycat design cues, which were ditched in favor of handsome-but-anonymous sheetmetal. 

Anonymity is now far removed from any list of adjectives describing the Sonata's exterior. The Sonata follows a swooping roofline trend started by the Mercedes-Benz CLS and democratized by the Volkswagen Passat CC, but unlike those four-seaters, the Sonata comfortably seats three rear passengers without the risk of bumped heads upon ingress. The Sonatas on display at the LA Auto Show suffered from lagging dash and glovebox textures, but mid-level models wore impressive breathable seating fabrics and a dramatically styled steering wheel.

Stories will be written about the Sonata's design, but headlines will be written about its highly efficient powertrain. Hyundai benchmarked the midsize segment's fuel economy leaders, and beat them all. The Sonata's 2.4-liter gasoline direct-injection engine is expected to dust competing midsize sedans with 198 horsepower and 35 MPG highway — the best numbers among four-cylinder competitors. 

Hyundai plans to sell a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder by the end of 2010. The turbocharged Sonata is expected to produce more horsepower than the outgoing 3.3-liter V6, while delivering the same 35 MPG highway fuel economy of its non-turbocharged counterpart. A hybrid Sonata Blue Drive will also appear in showrooms by year's end. Its advanced lithium polymer battery pack marks the first use of the emerging battery technology in a hybrid vehicle.

Confidence was evident as Hyundai Motor America's CEO John Krafcik spoke to the auto show press corps. Krafcik predicted that the Sonata's efficiency-focused four-cylinder-only engine strategy will be adopted by competing manufacturers in five to ten years.

"The idea of a V6 in a midsize sedan will go the way of the dinosaur," Krafcik said.

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