NEW FAMILY IDENTITIES FOR SUV AND LUXURY SEDAN

+ Click to Enlarge STAR OF THE SHOW: Hyundai launched two vehicles in Oman on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula this week - one of them beautiful new Sonata sedan. Images: LES STEPHENSON

February 9, 2010
By Les Stephenson

Muscat, Oman – The hinterland of this city on the Arabian Peninsula in what could loosely be called far north-east Africa could pass for parts of northern Namibia at the diagonally opposite side of the same continent were it not for its multitude of white buildings and dozens of building cranes.

The same jagged and sun-blasted brown mountains, thorn trees and scrub… oh, but not the rain that fell in buckets over the weekend, filling dry riverbeds with raging white water, sending a torrent through the harbourside souk and putting huge smiles on the locals' faces. Rain, in the Sultanate of Muscat, is a seriously rare and much celebrated event.

It also played havoc with preparations for Hyundai's African launch of its 2010 Sonata sedan and the latest version of the Tucson SUV, the first version of which arrived in South Africa about five years ago. The name Sonata - though now on the huge boot of a vastly improved and way more attractive car - will continue to be sung but the Tucson has lost its Wild West flavour in favour of a generic ix35. Pity.

They'll both be launched on the South African market in April, 2010, perhaps together or maybe a couple of weeks apart, but whatever, the sedan and SUV/urban warrior markets are going to be set a-tremble.

Though very different cars, the two share a number of features - engines, fascias and gearboxes, for instance – and launch a design language that Hyundai's draughtspeople in the US, Seoul and Europe have called "fluidic sculpture". It's defined by the strong feature lines down each car's flanks and converging bonnet creases that on the Sonata continue through a wrinkled grille.

The two models' similarity, despite one being a large sedan and the other a medium SUV, is striking. Indeed, the Sonata is a brilliant example of modern car design.

Hyundai SA's Stanley Anderson says we'll get four versions of the Tucs... - (darn it! must get used to the new name) I mean the ix35 each in GLS guise. There will be two petrol models - an entry-level 4x2 with a choice of auto or manual gearbox and a 2.4-litre petrol 4x4 auto with leather upholstery and 18" rims.

Then there will be two two-litre diesels, a 4x2 manual with leather and 18" rims and a two-litre 4x4 auto, the range's flagship, with leather and the same wheels but adding pretty much a full house of options, including terrain-sensitive shock-absorbers, keyless entry with push-button start and a huge, power-operated sunroof.

Anderson says buyers can expect a roughly 15 percent increase on their current prices.

20 A MONTH

The Sonata will be a one-model phenomenon with the same 2.4-litre petrol engine and auto gearbox as the ix35 and challenge cars such as Honda's Accord and the Mazda6.

It will cost "below R300 000" and remain a rarity on South African roads with sales of perhaps 20 a month.

Full story, pictures and gallery of the 2010 Hyundai ix35 SUV.
Full story, pictures and gallery of the 2010 Hyundai Sonata sedan.