Has The 2011 Hyundai Sonata Just CHANGED The Mid-Size Sedan Landscape? Who Is Poised To Lose The Most?

This might be a shot in the dark but hmm.....
I don't know...

Toyota?

based on the multiple recall catastrophes of late, but then again, I'm not an expert.

I agree 150 percent

me too I think this sonata looks way better than the Camry and the Accord. Its not touching the new Maxima but who cares this car fully loaded 27k-28k is great. honestly if i were coming out of college I would look into one of these for real. the base model is 19k you cant beat that. plus it has a sexy appearance with the low roof line

Wow! major rip off of the Cadillac interior design.

I'm sorry, but what lexus has the v shaped center console with tri knobs and that button layout on either side of the middle knob?... the only thing it isn't copying is the retractable touch screen.

I wonder if that shiny black part of the dash is scratch and fingerprint resistant in the production cars.

cut your nails and dont touch everything you see. problem solved

Veyron, for the first time ever I boosted you. That was just too funny.

Agree on the Caddy interior, at first I thought it was the CTS.......lol
Well, it is better looking than a Camry and probably doesn't accelerate on it's own so I'm thinking it's more in-line with the Accord/TSX. But no I don't expect it to blow away the competition. It will instead take little bites out of sales from all of them, which is exactly what Hyundai wants...

As far as design goes, Toyota and Honda ALWAYS ride the "comfort wave". Nissan, not so much. Nissan doesn't play it safe and boring.

(Im assuming I just used "comfort wave" the right way)

I think that cheap display on the center dash is gonna annoy me, and I like to keep things stock.

The chrome running from the headlights to the side windows is very nice, and it looks great on the red car; too bad I thought it was shoddy build quality in the silver cars or earlier, low-quality pictures.

I'm personally impressed at how the overhangs don't bug me and how the wheels fit so perfectly. I would even compare the rear to the new Infinti M's.

If this thing carries a lot of luxuries, I wonder if it means Toyota has to up its ante without raising the price too much, while Lexus gets more to stay on top... without raising to price too much either. Ultimately, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are gonna have to bring up their game, especially in terms of design.

I'm honestly turning into a Hyundai fan. I'm looking at it like this. For their first REAL attempt at taking on these cars this is a pretty damn good try if not celebration. With the success of the Genesis,I have high hopes that they did their homework before releasing this car and at least have it scoring better in some categories against the competition.Cant wait for the first impressions/reviews.Looks wise it eats the competition. The Altima is disgusting. The Camry was nice looking,but got old quick.The Accord to me is still on top in this segment but the Hyundai is pretty close. The red Sonata above has almost the exact same wheels that come on the 4 cyl accord coupe lol. Again guys this is their first REAL attempt.Give credit where it is due.

Toyota will be the biggest loser from its own self-inflicted wounds. Hyundai has scored a home run and will give the Accord some tough competition.

They are adding a turbo 4 with DI next year

This is going to be a game changer. It will hurt Toyota and Honda the most. If they produce a hybrid version it will take over the segments. This car does not get lost within the sea of Accord and Camrys

Hyundai has excellent manufacturing control systems and essentially build cars which are better quality than anything coming from the rest of asia.

However, I am not too keen on the looks of the new sonata. It looks like the birth child of a tiburon and an es-350. But that being said I would prefer this car over and es-350 anyday!

I don't think it will change the landscape in that segment. More like just add a new feature to it. But it's a very nice looking car and I expect it to appeal to the traditional Camry buyer most.

Kudo's to Hyundai's marketing team, however when I was getting my MBA the first thing they taught us in marketing class was that comparing your product in a commercial against the competition was kind of uncouth and dangerous. Hyundai is taking risks most conservative companies won't and the gloves are off! Chevy is doing the same thing in Howie Long's comparison commercials. So is the product the second coming of Christ...no but the commercials are better then the competition. I think the best ad so far is the new Charger one at the superbowl, that's a real car ad, it shows emotion, what driving is about, not comparing other cars, not saying mine goes around the skid pad .04 G's better, it is about you as a driver having one last stand as a man and driving the car you really want! Do people really want a Hyundai, no, will they you betcha as lemmings, not car guys, will eat up the ads and Hyundai will gain market share. So they are doing a good job and that is what is a market changer, selling cars at the end of the day!

Doesn't look bad but I doubt it's any better than the established players.

Impressive car no doubt. Will only kick competitors especially Toyota(overall) and Honda(styling) to improve their cars.

JUGNU

Nice job Hyundai. Serious threat to potential Camry buyers who want to save a few thousand dollars. I would say Hyundai hit Toyota broadside. This is a direct hit.

What happened to Hyundaifan or whatever his name was? He was constantly bringing up Hyundai with every article, even when it didn't fit. And now here is a perfect chance for him to shout to the heavens and he isn't around. Oh well. I think the car looks nice and should help Hyundai grow its market share. I do wonder what the Kia version of this will look like.

The Altima and Mazda6 are still my choices in this segment.

Still, nice job Hyundai. Toyota has a chance to out-due this as a new Camry should be out within 2 years, so they have ample time to see what the need to beat from the competition.

M35MT: I could'nt agree with you more. I don't understand why there are no more Mazda 6 out there.

Only time will tell. The Camry accord dont sell because they are eye catching "look at me" cars or are particularly sporting. But they are awesome family cars that go on and on . Will hyundai topple them ... no . If they nail a consumer reports A+ and do this for the next 5 models, then yeah Hyundai will nail the market.

As for Toyota, The Obama admin sponsored US media bashing has hurt it. Nothing is a sharp as a wounded tiger . Expect them to up their game even further. GM ... Ford oh well .. I am sure Obama will spend another 50 odd billion dollars of our money to ensure their survival...

3 words for everyone.....

2011-2012 Toyota Camry SE V6.....THAT will shut down the industry. With all of the negative energy Toyota has been hit with you better believe they are going to come strong and hard for the next generation, #1 selling passenger car in the US......

Hyundai seems to foget that cars occasionally get redesigned and while you may have a great, new and interesting product now...but in months it can all be washed away and dated: Genesis

"2011-2012 Toyota Camry SE V6" I see at least 9 words there, but I could be wrong.

Did you mean "Next Toyota Camry?"

Yeah, I saw that too after I had already hit submit...I think it pays to proof read lol I meant 2012 Toyota Camry - referring to "2012" as a word.

Wow....

Makes sense now.

Would never ever, ever, ever, buy a hyundai. Its cheap because its cheap.

Who cares...

It looks better in person and the interior is pretty snazzy. The quality will probably continue to be better than honda/toyota and this generation of new models from hyundai-kia will start the shift.

After reading most of the comments hear, it only shows that, unfortunately, most people have simply not cared much about Hyundai one way or the other. In fact, most still have burned in there memories the ideas formed back when they became a runway sales success followed by lack of quality demise almost as fast. To bad. Today's Hyundai is nothing like the one from the early 90's. Anyway, will this car "change' on the scale that the question implies? No. Will it tell the competition in no uncertain terms that Hyundai is now ready to play in the big leagues, full hard ball? Most definitely. Since you have been ignoring them, Hyundai has taken itself from the industry joke in quality up to being even better quality than Mercedes, BMW, and, as it is now abundantly clearer, TOYOTA. Anyway, I really like the new Sonata. A well executed, cohesive cross between several other designs including the CLS Mercedes, the Volkswagen CC, and the Altima. I do have issues with the front Grill. Although I like the evil smile under the grill and the fog lights. As far as the interior; once again, you have not paid attention. Yes, one could say the design is almost a carbon copy of the new CTS (Not a bad thing in my mind); actually, it is a natural progression of the last generation Sonata's most recent interior, which was the best part of that car. On the lots BEFORE the new CTS hit the market. So who copied who? Anyway; who will be affected? Honda: No, not much. The conservative buyers of the Accord will not take well to the extreme styling of the Sonata. However, due to the aggressive pricing, and mileage, of the car, it could take away a few Civic sales. Toyota: in the short term; Yes, it will take some sales form the Camry and, as with the Civic, from the Corolla as well. Toyota will recover. As far as the others go: Mazda 6: Yeah, its gonn'a hurt em. As far as the 3 goes, no effect. This car is so good that people shopping the 3 WANT the 3, period. Nissan; Altima and Sentra; Ouch! Chevy Malibu, Mitsu Lancer and Gallant, New Suzuki Kizashi, (due to a huge lack of dealers in key markets) much pain to follow. Ford fusion; some pretty significant pain, especially if the new Hybird version (Blue) is as good as it sounds. And the Sonata Interior is much better looking. Finally, and ironically, the Volkswagen CC will feel a hit. Especially when the 2.4 Turbo lands. The CC and new Sonata could be twin brothers of different mothers. The major stumbling block to total devastation over the CC, and the rest of the mid-size market is that, from my brief experience at the LA Show, the interior, although beautiful, still suffers from a lack of little character touches and higher quality materials that the competition, especially Volkswagen and Honda do so well. In, fact, the new Kizashi has a higher quality material FEEL than does the Sonata. (The Suzuki is nice piece). However, not only will the Sonata be a HUGE success for Hyundai. It tells the competition: watch out.

you make good points.

as always, the current strongest products will be LEAST affected, and the weakest, most affected. some may even get squeezed out.

this is SIMPLE DARWINISM, applied to the automotive landscape.

btw, your posts will be more easily read, if you use paragraphs. and line breaks.