joe80

Hyundai has been very busy lately as it progresses through round two of its 24/7 product renewal program. Just days after unveiling the new Accent/Verna in Beijing, Hyundai has revealed its next generation Elantra/Avante at the Busan Motor Show in South Korea. Like the smaller Accent, the Elantra has picked up the "fluidic sculpture" styling cues of its big brother the Sonata. By virtue of its larger size, the Elantra retains more of the sleeker profile of the Sonata and doesn't look as stubby as the Accent.

Like the Sonata, the new Elantra gets a direct injected inline-four, in this case a 1.6-liter based on the Gamma engine family. For the Elantra the GDI 1.6 generates 138 horsepower and 123 pound-feet of torque. In combination with a new six-speed automatic transmission, the Elantra should get about 10 percent better fuel economy.

The Avante will go on sale in South Korea in the second half of this year and we'd expect to see it state-side with Elantra badges early in 2011. No word yet on whether we will get a hybrid version of the new Elantra. High-res images below, official press release available after the jump.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/29/b...show-in-korea/





looks like a legit Civic & Corolla competitor. Another huge huge home run IMO.

(Cj)

I like it. It's the first new Hyundai design I think looks good.

But even with that I think the new Focus looks better...

joe80

I think Focus and this will now be legit players threatening to dethrone the perennial tag team champion civic and corolla.

focus/elantra = fusion/sonata

both companies surprise me everyday.


what I like about what Hyundai is doing that they are finally having a clear design direction that they desperately needed.

mmarshall

The more-subdued grille looks MUCH better than the ones on the new Accent and Sonata, but, IMO, the headlights sweep back way too much. The rear end and hump-back roofline seem pretty much the same as the Accent/Sonata....so good luck to tall people getting in and out the back seat.

KA8

iTrader: (1)

Not bad. I can see little sonata here.

LexFather

Accent Elanta Sonata same style 3 different sizes how original. Seems they are trying to hard with the random lines and curves.

Is there a good looking car in that class? Corolla civic 3 this yuck

joe80

definitely won't be for those 6ft+ dudes on the back. but this is supposed to be longer than the current model with even longer wheel base(from brenda priddy's opinion), so i think it won't be too bad.

(Cj)

RXSF

Trunk lid screams BMW 3 series, but overall its a good looking car.

joe80

just your opinion. Corolla is not a bad looking car and Civic is a looker. Forte looks good and Focus is awesome.

been following this all day today, andprobably more than 9 out of 10 people seemed to like this. even more so than Sonata.

What I see is a clear design direction. This is a huge success. it will double the current elantra sales.

Mbenz528i

Nice looking car. I think Hyundai has some excellent gems coming from their showroom. I may have to start calling Honda the crooked H.

joe80

agreed. new focus really might become the next best seller. Ford has all the momentum, and Focus truly is a great looking compact car.

LexFather

My opinion holds weight. This will make a great rental

mmarshall

I'll withold final comment until I see one close-up and and review it, but, based on what little I saw at the D.C. show on the turntable, and from what I've read about it, I agree with you that the Focus may have the potential to become a great competitior. I can see the Focus and the Elantra slugging it out in the sales figures.

This is (apparantly) not going to be the basic-transportation, bread-and-butter, economy-car Focus we've had here in America all these years.

mmarshall

Don't forget, though, that rentals sometimes lead to sales.