Hyundai Sonata 2001 test drive - 2004 sedan

Korean Sonata No. 5

Hyundai family sedan changes image and market niche

In Russia, official sales of Hyundai Sonata cars of the fifth in a row of generation began. Unlike predecessors, a new model is positioned in the market as a business class sedan. Attempts to break into a higher level segment have recently been taking most of the automobile companies. For example, the Volkswagen concern promotes Passat, and Ford New Mondeo. The success formula is simple: cars are increased in size, expand the list of basic equipment, add new options. In principle, the Korean company went along the same way with the only difference being that the developers of the new Sonata managed to create a car that embodied the features of the most prestigious brands. And not only external.

Similar to many, but with your face

A careful study of the exterior of the car causes deja vu syndrome: almost Mercedes headlights, a radiator grille in Lexus manner, something from Jaguar is felt in the outlines of the back of the body. It is felt that, having received an order for the creation of a business class sedan, Korean designers worked for fame, trying to bring the maximum elegance and respectability to the appearance of the new Sonata.

Nevertheless, the sensation of previously seen does not leave in the cabin. The combination of devices reminded the Volkswagenovskaya, and looking through the windshield on the hood, you feel like in Mercedes, only a three -beam star is not enough for the completeness of the sensation. However, this circumstance cannot be attributed to the minuses of the car. Compared to the fourth Sonata, the interior of the novelty undoubtedly looks more solid. This is not even about the abundance of pseudo -driven decoration characteristic of Korean cars -the plastic under the tree was enough before. The feeling of respectability is created by a radically updated and become inclined central console (a modern climate control unit is now located under the radio), the already mentioned combination of devices and a new form with more developed lateral support. By the way, in the presentation booklet it is especially noted that the seats are made using Johnson Control technology, which is traditionally used on luxury vehicles.

In the new Sonata, it really became much more comfortable. It is not possible to configure the chair with the help of five mechanical labor adjustments. Conveniently and rear passengers. A 37 mm salon extended allows you to sit on the sofa reclining. The convenience and security for passengers of the new Sonata add the head restraint that appeared on the back of the rear seat. True, the sightseeing due to this was somewhat worsened. The seat itself can now be folded in a ratio of 40/60. The cover of the roomy trunk finally received the upholstery and the inner handle.

Claiming membership in the Car Car Car segment E New Sonata allows a significantly improved acoustic comfort. Comparing the novelty with the previous generation car, it should be noted that the salon has become much quieter. Using the technology of maximum filling of space, the developers, in particular, placed the air conditioner compressor directly on the side of the cylinder block, which allowed to significantly reduce noise and vibration.

Perhaps the main concern of the creators of Hyundai Sonata was an increase in the level of active and passive safety of the driver and passengers. The supporting body design is made of composite materials for maximum absorption and distribution of energy during impact, the doors are reinforced with steel beams. The basic configuration now includes ABS, two airbags and front fog lights. In more expensive versions, they are added to the course stability system (TCS), side pillows and seat belts with pretensors. The most interesting novelty was the intellectual sensory system that tracks the operation of pillows and seat belts, climate control, fuel system and steering hydraulic power steering. Electronics can, for example, in the absence of a front passenger to cancel the pillow, allowing the owner after the accident to save on the protection of protection in working condition.

Speed \u200b\u200band control

It is in these words that the dynamic characteristics of the new Sonata can be described. Having inherited the magnificent smoothness of the predecessor, the car became much more collected.

Previously, getting on irregularities in a steep turn, the car strove to get off the course, and when trying to perform a classic exercise, the snake was alarming with strong rolls and a clear tendency to drifts. Now the car is much more willing to allow the driver active maneuvers. And while driving Sonata with a new 2.7-liter engine is drawn to shoulder enough. A powerful 178-horsepower motor in combination with a mechanical five-speed gearbox turns the car driving into a real pleasure. Energetic starts with a screech of starts, dynamic accelerations, confident riding in a tense city stream at far from urban speeds, all this is available to the Sonata driver with a V-shaped six under the hood.

The stabilization system is included in the work exactly when it is necessary, but with one feature at a sharp start, it will try to reduce the torque supplied to the front wheels and reduce the slip to nothing. It is worth emphasizing precisely to reduce, and not drown out the motor, as is the case on many other machines, and this undoubted plus of the car will like drivers.

In general, having met a novelty better, you admit that, positioning Sonata as almost a business class, its creators are not so far from the truth.

Prospects

Prices also confirm this: dealers ask for a new sedan today (depending on the configuration, such as engine and transmission) from 20 to 30 thousand dollars. About the same amount of VW Passat ($ 20.1 $ 27.5 thousand), Ford Mondeo ($ 20.1 $ 21.1 thousand) and Mitsubishi Galant ($ 22.9 $ 29.99 thousand), considered the main competitors of the Korean machine. The desire to compete with well -known manufacturers is very commendable, but in the case of the new Sonata, the Koreans actually changed their traditional principle to offer a lot of car for little money. Whether the time of Hyundai will agree with such a statement of the question.

As Russian dealers evaluate the prospects of the brand, we tried to find out from Leonid Nikitin, the director of Karnet-2000, the official distributor of Hyundai.

Your company is part of the Rolf group. Why, when a decision was made to expand the range of cars sold, the choice fell on the Hyundai brand?

Now Hyundai is the most dynamically developing brand. The Korean company set itself a very real, in my opinion, task by 2005 to enter the five largest automakers in the world. Given the variety of the model range and the quality of the cars, this is possible. Today, Hyundai is in eighth place, following the Peugeot-Citroen concern. Already this year, she can move to the seventh, selling about 3 million cars. The next step is already more difficult, because in order to become sixth, more than 4 million cars must be sold. Therefore, it is planned to expand the model range. For Russia, the most important novelty will be the TV model, presented recently in Geneva.
This is a direct competitor to Skoda Fabia, and we expect to win. Therefore, in particular, that Hyundai has one undeniable advantage of accessibility for customers of cars with an automatic gearbox. And this is a very significant factor in Russia and another term of both our success and the success of the Hyundai in general.

What is necessary, in your opinion, to do to improve the image of the Hyundai brand in Russia?

Russia is a unique country in this sense, since we will still re -read Korean cars cheap and unreliable. Although before the 1998 crisis, Hyundai cars were sold very well. The share of the same Sonata in its market segment was 16%, and no one could surpass this result for a long time. Only now the VW Passat got to this indicator. Moreover, then the price of the Hyundai Sonata was about 28-30 thousand dollars.

Our last events and actions of representative office are just aimed at changing the image of the brand. As you probably know, Hyundai, the official sponsor of the upcoming World Cup, and each buyer of the car can win a trip to the competition. In addition, the company sends a huge football ball to each of the countries of the tournament, and all fans can write their wishes to the national team on it. The balls are delivered to the championship and put up in the arena of those that arrived from the states whose teams are now playing.

To change the attitude of the buyer, you should give him the opportunity to understand that Hyundai is a reliable and comfortable car. That is why we recently held an action during which everyone could take a new Sonata and ride it. This method seems to be the most effective in existing market conditions.

There are a lot of dealers of the Hyundai brand in Moscow. How are you going to attract buyers to your company?

Many companies selling Hyundai cars in Russia are not official dealers of the brand. The buyer of the car always has the opportunity to buy the car itself, but lose money for maintenance or on something else. Or choose a well -known company, with a good reputation and prices a little higher, but save later, on the same service and additional bonuses received when buying a car from a solid company. Do not forget about the guarantee. For cars, we provide it for three years or 100 thousand kilometers. For SUVs, this period is less than 1 year, but now we are thinking about increasing the warranty period.

What are the plans for 2002?

We started selling cars only in June 2001. And in six months it was possible to sell 349 cars. Of course, against the background of the scale of the Russian car market, this is not so much, but given that sales of the Hyundai brand is not very high, the result is not bad. This year we plan to sell about 1,100 cars. Why are we building a separate showroom only for Hyundai cars. It will go into line this year and, according to all its characteristics, will meet the high standards of Rolf. If we talk about the sales of the Hyundai brand as a whole in Russia, then they, as we expect, will amount to about two with a small thousand cars.

Andrey Tsybulsky
 

Source: Newspaper "Automobile Izvestia" [No. 4 (7), 2002]