Hyundai Sonata Wins Award for Interior Design

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DETROIT, June 4 -- The 2009 Hyundai Sonata was named an "Interior of the Year" award winner in the category of "Best Redesign" at the annual "Auto Interior of the Year Awards" conducted by Ward's AutoWorld magazine.

"This award is particularly gratifying for our team," said Dan Vivian, director of Design Engineering. "We started with a world-class car, listened to customer feedback telling us they wanted an improved interior, and went to work to make the 2009 Hyundai Sonata stand up and stand out against every other car in its class."

The 2009 Hyundai Sonata redesign was led by the team at Hyundai's America Technical Center Inc. (HATCI) in Superior Township, Mich. HATCI's role is to design, develop and test Hyundai products sold in North America. The 2009 Sonata was the first Hyundai product program led by the team in North America. The Sonata is built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, near Montgomery.

"Talk about a comeback!" Ward's AutoWorld Editor-in-Chief Drew Winter writes on his Sonata scoresheet. "Hyundai has gone from mediocre to best-in-class with Sonata."

Ward's editors also noted the new Sonata has everything a buyer wants in this daily-driver sector: a spacious back seat and trunk, good ergonomics, snug seats, premium-looking gauges, a sleek sense of style and quality materials. The Sonata cabin is warm and inviting -- like comfort food at the end of a hard day -- and manages to raise Hyundai's brand image as a benchmark for interior design.

Ward's editors served as judges for the competition, evaluating 36 vehicles in March and April. The pool consisted of completely new vehicles or existing models that received significant interior redesigns for '08.

Editors submitted score sheets ranking the materials selected, ergonomics, safety, value, comfort, fit-and-finish and design harmony for each vehicle evaluated. Points also were awarded based on a driver's ability to quickly access vital information, such as navigation routes, diagnostic data and fuel economy.

NEW, WELL-CRAFTED INTERIOR STILL A "CLASS ABOVE"

The focus of the redesign of the 2009 Sonata was on the interior where Hyundai's designers re-crafted the cabin area to create an upscale ambiance for the driver and passengers. Eyes are drawn to clean and sophisticated flow-through center console and instrument panel design, which borrows design cues and rich materials from the premium Hyundai Veracruz.

"We were inspired by the beautiful forms of the interior in the Veracruz and challenged to deliver comparable design execution in the mainstream Sonata," said Chris Zarlenga, who heads Hyundai's design studio in Michigan. "Great design does not have to cost a great deal of money to the company or the customer. This new Sonata proves that point."

Sonata is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Large Car, truly a "class above" its competitors, including Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Malibu (all are categorized as mid-size cars). Even in trunk room, Sonata shines. Sonata's 16.3 cubic feet of trunk space give it an 8 percent advantage over the Toyota Camry, and a 16 percent advantage over Honda Accord.

Music lovers will welcome the 2009 Sonata's inclusion of standard auxiliary input jacks (3.5 mm mini-jack and USB input) to accommodate and charge audio devices such as iPods(R). When an iPod or flash drive is connected through the USB port, which is located in the center storage compartment, not only does it play music through the vehicle's six-speaker audio system, but it charges the device and allows the driver to access tracks with the steering wheel audio controls. This system also allows both driver and passengers to easily view song/artist/title information and control the music from the audio head unit rather than only the iPod itself.

Among the other refinements are the addition of dual-zone climate controls for the driver and front-seat passenger, and two-stage front seat warmers. A new factory-installed touch screen navigation system with a state-of-the-art voice recognition interface is now available as well. This interface allows the driver to select a destination, and change audio selections, by voice command without taking hands off the wheel or eyes off the road.

Hyundai engineers also listened to customer feedback on seat comfort and were able to redesign the front seat angles and cushion length to improve comfort.

More contrast has been added to the Camel and Gray interiors, and for the first time ever, Cocoa Brown is available. The front cupholders are also upgraded for more capacity and holding power. Hyundai's signature blue backlighting for interior gauges, switches and buttons highlights the vehicle's modern interior design.

CHOICE OF TWO MORE POWERFUL AND FUEL-EFFICIENT POWERTRAINS

The 2009 Sonata debuts Hyundai's second-generation Theta four-cylinder engine. The Theta II 2.4-liter DOHC inline four-cylinder engine delivers more horsepower and quicker acceleration, while also improving fuel economy. In fact, the Sonata I4 is now more fuel-efficient than both Camry and Accord four-cylinder engines, delivering an impressive 22 mpg city/32 mpg highway fuel economy rating with the standard five-speed manual transmission or the newly available five-speed automatic transmission with SHIFTRONIC(R). A version of this engine also meets Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (PZEV) standards.

Sonata's 3.3-liter V6 engine has also been improved for more performance and efficiency. It now pumps out 15 more horsepower and three more pound-feet of torque (249 horsepower @ 6,000 rpm and 229 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,500 rpm). New mileage figures for V6-powered Sonatas are 19 mpg city/29 mpg highway, which represents unsurpassed V6 fuel economy in the mid-size sedan segment.

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 790 dealerships nationwide.

WARD'S AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

Ward's Automotive Group is a world-leading provider of auto industry news, data and analysis, having served the industry's information needs for nearly 80 years. Ward's AutoWorld is a monthly magazine serving more than 68,000 automotive professionals. WardsAuto.com is an online subscription service delivering virtually all the industry news, data and analysis compiled by Ward's Automotive Group, the world's leader in automotive industry information. A Southfield, MI - based division of Penton Media, Inc., Ward's Automotive Group also publishes the weekly industry newsletter Ward's Automotive Reports, the monthly magazine Ward's Dealer Business, and offers a wealth of other automotive information services including reference annuals, online databases, and customized data reports.