Hyundai adds new Sonata to challenge Toyota, Honda

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, unveiled a revamped Sonata midsize sedan as it seeks to boost its image and lure customers from Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

The carmaker plans to sell 450,000 Sonatas a year from 2011, helped by production in the U.S. and China, it said in an e-mailed statement today. It aims to sell 60,000 in South Korea by the end of this year, where the car will cost from 21.3 million won ($17,700) to 26 million won.

The Sonata will challenge Toyota's Camry and Honda's Accord as Hyundai continues its push to be more than a low-cost alternative to Japanese automakers. The company has also added the luxury Equus sedan this year and boosted its U.S. marketing as a weaker won and a focus on fuel-efficient models helps it withstand a slump in global auto sales.

"Hyundai's pretty much matched the vehicle quality at the bigger players, but it's time to enhance brand awareness," said Nam Kyung Moon, an analyst at KTB Securities Co. "That's the most urgent task the new vice chairman faces."

Chung Eui Sun, the only son of Chairman Chung Mong Koo was promoted to vice chairman for sales and planning last month. He was previously president of affiliate Kia Motors Corp.

"The new Sonata will raise Hyundai's brand value," Chung said in the statement.

U.S., China

The car, equipped with a 2-liter gasoline engine and a six-speed automatic transmission, can travel 12.8 kilometers per liter (30.1 miles per gallon), according to the statement. Hyundai will add a 2.4-liter gasoline-engine version in January. That will be the standard model in the U.S.

The carmaker will begin building Sonatas in the U.S. next year and in China in 2011, it said. The company didn't provide overseas prices.

"Hyundai has lacked a real flagship model like the Camry or Accord," said Lee Jin Sik, a Seoul-based analyst at consulting company CSM Worldwide Inc. The new Sonata is "a truly global model and it should help Hyundai to catch up with the frontrunners."

The automaker spent 450 billion won ($373 million) over four years developing the sixth generation Sonata. The first version went on sale in 1985.

Hyundai fell 3.1 percent to 109,000 won at 2:03 p.m. in Seoul trading. The stock has nearly tripled this year.

The company claimed a record 5 percent share of global auto sales in the first half on higher sales in China and India. The carmaker's U.S. sales were also little changed in the first eight months helped by the won's decline to an 11-year low in March. By contrast, Toyota's U.S. sales dropped 29 percent, Honda's 26 percent and GM's 35 percent as the worst recession since the 1930s hammered consumer spending.