Hyundai is on a serious roll with the Sonata. It started out with the redesigned 2011 Sonata and its very capable standard power plant — a 198-horsepower, direct-injected 2.4-liter engine — and it escalated at last month’s New York auto show with the unveiling of the 274-hp Sonata 2.0T and the lithium-polymer battery-equipped Sonata Hybrid.
So what’s Hyundai’s next move? Well, sources close to the company have suggested it will be the Sonata Coupe. When you look at the fast roofline of the sedan, it’s as if the coupe body style is meant to be — and we have no doubt Hyundai picked the final design for the Sonata with this in mind.
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It’s a logical move, we think, given that Honda has managed to make money in the front-drive midsize coupe segment for many years now with its Accord coupe, while Nissan moved in with its Altima coupe in the 2008 model year. Styling carries some weight among the two-doors in this price range, and a two-door Sonata would likely be the most fashionable of the three.
yundai has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success here in the US over the last few years. They have avoided the hybrid market segment so far – leaving it to Toyota. Well, it seems they’ve re-thought that strategy, and plan to introduce a Sonata Hybrid in 2011, as a 2012 model.
