The Hindu : Business : Hyundai's new Sonata coming

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 20, 2005

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Business

Hyundai's new Sonata coming

sudhish Kamath

Sports a Theta engine, said to deliver more power, consume less fuel

CHENNAI: South Korea's largest selling car just went in for a makeover.

The Hyundai Sonata is likely to re-enter the Indian market in July with a brand new Theta-engine, jointly developed by Hyundai, Mitsubishi and DaimlerChrysler, according to BVR Subbu, President of Hyundai Motor India. He was talking to visiting newspersons from India at the Hyundai's Asan plant near Seoul in South Korea recently.

The new 2400cc Theta engine is said to deliver more power and consume less fuel than its predecessors.

The Chennai plant, equipped to produce the new-look Sonata, is expected to swing into production mode once the quality audit is completed. The company hopes to sell about 2,000 cars a year.

The new Sonata, which will take on the Honda Accord with its newly styled exterior and looks that would remind one of the BMW, is being positioned as the "exemplary sedan beyond boundaries."

"We as a company have been focussing on quality because we believe that quality will bring in the numbers," a company spokesperson says. "The Sonata has been the largest selling car in Korea for ten consecutive years."

The car will be launched in manual and automatic variants, with a price ranging from Rs. 12 lakhs to Rs. 18 lakhs. Exchange offers for owners of the Sonata's manual variant will be announced prior to the launch, company officials say.

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