metalgear

i say they shouldn't change anything

speedflex

Maybe you haven't been paying attention to Hyundai's quality rankings over the last couple of years. And why has this become a Sonota vs. Camry issue all of a sudden? The point of fact is that this is a vastly improved car over the previous generation and has tons more style than many of its competitors. No one is pressing the issue that this car will topple Camry (who cares anyway?). At the same time all theory goes out the window when we see for sure how the market reacts to the car.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Speed,it's Sonota vs. Camry with you and a small percentage of car buyers.

speedflex

Damn you, Camry! Dammmn Youuuuuuuuu!!!

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

No doubt Toyota quality has been sliding and Hyundai's is rising but not many realize it or seem to care.
We'll have to see what numbers are for '10 sales of the Sonata next year.

silversprucesc3

This should be the real deal.... Meaning that the previous Sonata albeit a nice car was not marketed and designed to be a "Camcord" killer... They were percieved as a good value and a viable replacement for the Camcord's especially with the warranty.

Now the this appears to be a game changer. At least visually years ahead of the Camcords and with a luxury exterior/interior. Only time will tell...

The G Man

Lets see, the Camry and the Hyundai cost almost the same price. The Hyundai had good quality for the last couple of years and Toyota has good quality for the last 30 years. Another no brainer.

speedflex

Yes, assuming that's the one and only thing a buyer is looking for. For a vast majority it is. For a good number of people it isn't.

TRDFantasy

You slightly contradicted yourself; if "it is' for a vast majority of people, then logically the people left over cannot be "a good number", they would be a very small minority.

Trying to cater to the small enthusiast minority at the cost of the average joe majority in the midsize sedan market is a recipe for disaster. Catering specifically to enthusiasts does not bring success in the midsize sedan market.

Some enthusiasts know very well what happened with the 3rd gen Ford Taurus. Ford decided to make it a "radical" design. Ford's actual thinking was that it wanted the car to stand out from the midsize sedan competition. It definitely looked very radical compared to the competition, but as for how the market reacted to the car, well that is history. What happened was that a lot of Taurus owners and fans were alienated by the styling, and the Taurus lost it's status as American's best selling sedan. Since then, it has never been the same and the Taurus' reputation was forever ruined.

Hyundai should hope that it's new Sonata does not alienate loyal Sonata owners and fans while trying to attract new buyers.

speedflex

It's about percentages. Even if 10 percent of a million people choose a product that's still 100,000 people. Just look at the Altima. No, it doesn't match Camry in sales. It skews more toward the sporty side than Camry and yet it sells over 200k units a year.

The Sonota already has a bigger slice of this market than it did a few years ago and they are simply trying to grow that share. There's no way that this new car won't at least improve on that incrementally. Explain to me how this new Sonota may alienate current customers. You are in a minority here in disapproving of the design.

Obviously you don't like this car as well as it seems you don't like most non-Toyota products. But you may want to lighten up on trying to prove to everyone else who does admire this car that they shouldn't.

TRDFantasy

Does the Altima have controversial styling? Not really.

I already explained how the Sonata would alienate current customers, and that is the same way the 3rd gen Taurus alienated buyers back in the 1990s.

Just like the 3rd gen Taurus, this new Sonata looks COMPLETELY different than it's previous-generation model.

Also like the 3rd-gen Taurus when it came out, the Sonata's design is a lot more radical than any of the midsize competition.

It stands out compared to the competition (even though it mimics styling from some competitors), and this is not necessarily a good thing.

pagemaster

It just gets better and better and better for Hyundai

http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/2010-hyunda-sonata/#5

IS-SV

No doubt sales of this version of Sonata will increase.

speedflex

If this Sonata is a radical and controversial design to you then I'm done talking. It's obvious our points of view are galaxies apart.

TRDFantasy

Compared to the previous-gen model, yes it is radical and controversial.