South Korean automaker Hyundai, which has been working to shed its bargain-brand image and emerge from the shadows of Japan's biggest brands, now commands higher prices than they do in the hot compact-car segment.

An analysis of transaction prices — what people actually paid for new cars — shows Hyundai not only has pulled ahead of Toyota and Honda, the compact segment leaders, but is closing the gap in midsize sedans. Those are key product segments for Hyundai, generating more than half its car sales last year.

The analysis by Edmunds.com for USA TODAY shows buyers in 2011 paid an average $19,711 for a Hyundai Elantra compact, about $1,500 more than for a Toyota Corolla and $300 above a Honda Civic. At the same time, the redesigned Elantra's sales rose 40.5% last year from 2010, Autodata reports.

Meanwhile, Hyundai's Sonata midsize sedan has been closing on Honda's Accord and Toyota's Camry in the past decade. U.S. buyers paid 33% more for a Sonata last year than in 2002, while they paid 13% more for an Accord in the same period and 10% more for a Camry.

The average paid for a Sonata last year was $23,259, about $860 below Accord and $500 below Camry. As recently as five years ago, Sonata lagged them by an average of more than $2,000.

The analysis shows Hyundai has not only moved beyond being written off by all but bargain seekers because of its previous reputation for questionable quality and oddball styling, but has moved beyond being only a value brand into having some products for which people will pay more.

"They really changed people's minds. It's a turning point for the brand," says Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com analyst. "But it's a long process that's not over yet."

Hyundai isn't afraid to raise sticker prices, either. Last week, it priced its redone Azera full-size sedan at $32,875 to start, up about $6,000 from its predecessor. Though the new one has more standard features, that still puts it well above the $26,350 base for a Ford Taurus and near Toyota Avalon's $33,955.

Heading upmarket has risks, Caldwell says. By letting go of its image as a value brand, Hyundai will face higher expectations.

Hyundai's U.S. CEO John Krafcik disputes that his brand is losing its value orientation. "Our value has never been higher," he says. He says there remain are many shoppers yet to be won over. "We're in the middle of a very long journey."

Hyundai announced pricing today starting at $19,170 with shipping for the 2013 Elantra GT five-door hatchback that arrives at dealers this month. Add another thousand to the base if you want it with automatic.

The compact hatch badged here as the Elantra GT is sold outside North America as the Hyundai i30. It's a sibling of the Kia Cee'd sold elsewhere and more a close cousin than true sibling of the Elantra sedan sold here.

The base GT is $1,700 more than a starter Elantra sedan, but it has more standard equipment and the good-looking hatch looks positioned as a sportier step up from the base four-door. The expanding Elantra line also is gaining a coupe variant for 2013 that has not yet been priced.

The GT succeeds in the U.S. lineup to the Elantra Touring (née i30 wagon), which was almost alone in its class as a small wagon. It was well-designed, a great value and blessed with a jewel of a B&M Racing short-throw manual shifter -- but was not a volume seller in the wagon-averse USA.


The new five-door Elantra takes a more direct cross-shopping aim at hatch models of rivals, including Ford Focus, VW Golf (all are hatchbacks), Toyota Matrix (a.k.a. Corolla hatch), Subaru Impreza, Mazda3 and perhaps Chevy's subcompact Sonic hatch (GM won't bring the compact Cruze's global hatch model here).

Could be a winning move for Hyundai sales :

Tthe hatch model of Focus, for example, is generating about 40% of Focus sales this year.

And Hyundai is following its usual one-two marketing punch with the GT -- come in a little under the rivals in base price and give the car a bit more in standard features.

The base Elantra GT base comes in below, for example, the Focus hatch at $19,995 to start with shipping, Mazda3 at $20,095 or the VW Golf five-door (which is only offered with automatic) at $20,565, according to our research site partners at Cars.com,.

And even the base Elantra GT has heated front seats, alloy wheels and seven air bags, including a driver's knee bag that even Elantra sedan doesn't have. For cargo flexibility, it has a split-fold-down rear seat back and flip-up seat cushions. Electronics include a remote entry, trip computer, Bluetooth and six-speaker audio with iPod/USB, satellite radio and steering wheel controls.

All GT's also have adaptive steering with three selectable modes: Comfort, Normal and Sport. It will take some seat time to see if that's more than a novelty.

Power is from the same 1.8-liter, 148-horsepower, direct-injection four as the sedan. In the GT, it's rated 28 mpg city, 39 highway and 32 combined with the 6-speed automatic, 27/39/31 with the 6-speed manual.

If you want to load up the GT, two option packages are offered:

Style, $2,750: Adds 17-in. wheels (up from 16), sport suspension, panoramic sunroof, side mirrors with turn signals, leather seating and steering wheel wrap, power driver's seat and driver auto/up window.
Technology, $2,350 (requires Style): Adds navigation with seven-inch screen, backup camera, automatic headlamps and dual-zone automatic climate control.

Hyundai announced that the 2013 Hyundai Elantra coupe that goes on sale later this month will start at $18,995 with shipping for the base GS model with six-speed manual-transmission model. Add $1,000 for the six-speed automatic version.

The pricing for the Elantra coupe is lower than the $19,305 base for Toyota's Scion tC coupe, but more than two grand higher than the base price for the closest rival, the 2012 Honda Civic coupe ($16,545).

Hyundai, however, is touting the features on the entry GS that are not standard on that base-price Civic DX coupe, including air conditioning, heated front seats, audio system with satellite radio, steering wheel audio controls, illuminated vanity mirrors, cruise control, Bluetooth, power heated mirrors, remote keyless entry, 60/40 fold-down rear seat and 16-inch alloy wheels.

For the extra bucks base Elantras also come in eight colors; Civic DX in silver and blue.

The Elantra coupe also will be available in an up-level SE trim starting at $20,520 with a manual transmission, $1,000 more for automatic. Upgraded standard features on the SE include 17-inch alloy wheels, sport-tuned suspension, leather seats, more sound damping and a rear spoiler.

You can add to the SE with automatic, a $2,350 Technology Package with a navigation system with 7-inch screen, backup camera, premium audio, automatic headlights, dual-zone automatic climate control and proximity key with push-button start.

The powerplant is the same 1.8-liter direct-injection four as other Elantras, rated in the coupe at 29 mpg city, 40 highway, 33 in combined driving with manual, 28/39/32 for the automatic.

In trying to “tune” the Elantra Coupe and GT prototypes sent to them by Hyundai of Korea, the company’s engineers on the opposite side of the Pacific just couldn’t get the rear suspension to perform in a way they believed North American consumers would expect.

The initial prototype rear suspension setup (crushed-tube torsion beam) was “good for ride but did not have much tuning capability for sporty handling,” Dave Dutko, Senior Engineer, Ride and Handling, Hyundai America Technical Center, told AEI at a recent media ride-and-drive event near San Diego for the Elantra Coupe, Elantra GT, and Veloster Turbo.

Dutko did not head suspension development for the two derivatives of the Elantra sedan. He did head suspension development for the Veloster Turbo (for more information on that model, see http://www.sae.org/mags/aei/11226), and it was on that project that he and North American engineering teammates in Irvine, CA, began investigating suspension alternatives for all three vehicles.

They experimented by fabricating components to tweak the rear suspension but eventually decided that a more involved solution would be needed to meet American consumer demands. Specifically, they determined that a V-beam with integrated stabilizer bar would be necessary—and that engineers in Korea would have to approve such a significant alteration. They did.

The V-beam setup with integrated stabilizer bar allows bracing of the arms for greater stiffness and improved body roll control.

But how large should the stabilizer bar be? Too big would mean too stiff and vice versa.

After large amounts of experimentation with bars of varying diameter—up to 25 mm (0.98 in)—mainly via scads of time behind the wheel in a wide variety of conditions on road and on track, the engineers decided on a bar of 22 mm (0.87 in) diameter for the Coupe and GT and 23 mm (0.91 in) for the Veloster Turbo. With the stiffer bar, the “Veloster Turbo is the better-handling car of the bunch by far,” the 47-year-old Dutko said.

The Coupe and GT, targeted to a markedly different audience, offer what the engineers believe is balanced performance between sportiness and comfort, and the end result could not be argued with based on this editor’s evaluation of the two models on the varying topography and road conditions of the San Diego area. Dutko noted that the Elantra sedan, already on sale and maintaining the original twist-beam crushed-tube design, offers the softest ride of the four models.

“You don’t want them all to feel the same,” he said. “Customers expect a different feel for the different cars.”

The coupe offers two suspension tunings, including a sportier calibration for the SE model that is optimized for its lower-profile P215/45R17 tire.

“Sporty and expressive” were the key roles in the design and development of the Coupe, said Michael O’Brien, Vice President, Product and Corporate Planning, Hyundai Motor America, at the media event. He noted that the Coupe and Sedan are “U.S.-focused,” whereas the GT is Europe-focused, the former having an emphasis on overall exterior styling and fun-to-drive attributes.

All three models come off the same platform and are powered by the Nu inline four-cylinder 1.8-L D-CVVT engine. Specific output bests that of their main competitors, according to O’Brien, with figures of 82 hp/L (61.3 kW/L) for both the Coupe and GT. Automatic and manual transmissions, each with six gears, are offered.

The 2013 Elantra Coupe’s main competitors are the Honda Civic Coupe and the Kia Forte Koup. Secondary competitors are the midsized Honda Accord and Nissan Altima coupes, both of which have less interior space than the Elantra Coupe, according to O’Brien. The two-door’s dimensions are almost identical to the sedan’s, but the sheet metal is unique from the B-pillar back and styling is different in terms of bumper covers, lamps, integrated rear spoilers, and other details. Bolstered seats are among the interior differentiators. The SE model comes with aluminum pedals.

The Coupe was designed at Hyundai's North American Design Center in Irvine.

Steering knuckle design and damper tuning have been recalibrated for sportier handling and steering responsiveness compared with the Elantra sedan.

The sportier MY2013 Elantra GT five-door features generous use of high-strength steel (57% overall, ultrahigh-tensile accounting for 21% of the total). At 2745 lb (1245 kg), it is lighter than its main competitors (Ford Focus, Mazda3, and Volkswagen Golf). A key to Elantra GT’s extensive use of high-strength steel is an $8 billion dollar investment Hyundai made to become the only global automaker with its own fully integrated steel plant. Hyundai has 400 metallurgists focused on the task of developing optimized steel recipes for every part and panel in new vehicle architectures.

Modifications to the Elantra GT include higher rear spring rates and Sachs dampers for improved body motion control. Incorporating Hyundai’s all-new Driver Selectable Steering Mode, operators can select among Comfort, Normal, and Sport settings. Comfort level offers the greatest ease of steering and is best suited to city and parking environments. Sport is optimized for higher-speed highways or winding roads. Normal is ideal for a mix of driving conditions. The system not only adjusts power assistance levels in each mode but also on-center buildup feel and steering buildup curves throughout the steering range for a natural, progressive feel.

The Elantra GT is the first car in its class to use an automatic defogging system that goes beyond the conventional automatic method of measuring humidity and air temperature close to the windshield to estimate dew point as a trigger. Originally introduced by Hyundai on the Genesis, it has faster, more accurate response because the sensor is in physical contact with the glass for temperature measurement, and interior humidity sensing is done very close to the windshield. The HVAC case is modified for independent control of the defrost door for maximum performance.

An algorithm in the Automatic Temperature Control microprocessor not only operates the A/C compressor for automatic defog but uses a complex strategy for temperature door control and blower speed operation to ensure that cabin comfort is maintained during the operation. The sensor and system were developed in response to initial quality surveys that showed windshield fogging issues were high on customer complaint lists.

Hyundai Teases Redesigned 2017 Elantra in Advance of L.A. Auto Show

Hyundai has released a glimpse of the next Elantra.

The South Korean automaker is readying a new version of the compact car, its bestselling vehicle in the U.S., where it competes with other top sellers including the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.

The redesigned 2017 Elantra will be shown for the first time in the U.S. at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.

The concept sketch released by Hyundai on Thursday shows a sportier, low-slung car. The stylized depiction lacks door handles and most body panel seams. Aluminum wheels are evocative of the spinning turbine blades of a jet engine.

“The subtle and innovative appearance enhancements reflect Hyundai Motor’s vision for design,” said Peter Schreyer, chief design officer at Hyundai Motor Co.

The automaker did not provide any other information, but it's a safe bet that the new Elantra will have a four-cylinder engine and better fuel economy than the current model. Based on other Hyundai moves, the new Elantra will likely include the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces for smartphones. And some trim levels are expected to have active safety features such as forward collision alert and blind spot warning.

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In its most recent comparison test, we called the new Hyundai Elantra sedan “arguably the best-looking vehicle the company has ever offered for sale.” That argument is about to get tougher with the arrival of the 2018 Hyundai Elantra GT, a hatchback version plucked from the automaker’s European division that serves up clean lines and attractive detailing. Combine the sharp styling with an available 201-hp turbocharged four-cylinder (and a standard six-speed manual transmission), and this new Hyundai has the potential to be a formidable challenger to segment favorite hatchbacks such as the Honda Civic and the Volkswagen Golf.

Like the outgoing Elantra GT hatch, the new model is essentially identical to the Europe-market Hyundai i30. That means it’s not a hatchback version of the U.S.-market Elantra sedan, and instead it rides on a different architecture; the relationship is similar to that between the VW Golf and Jetta. The Elantra GT’s wheelbase is two inches shorter than the Elantra sedan’s, for instance, which puts the Hyundai right between the Golf and Civic hatches.VIEW PHOTOS
The Elantra GT’s base four-cylinder displaces 2.0 liters, like the sedan’s standard engine, but different tuning results in 162 horsepower versus the sedan’s 147. Both six-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmissions are offered with this naturally aspirated engine. Things get more interesting in the Elantra GT Sport, which packs the Elantra Sport sedan’s turbocharged 1.6-liter four making 201 horses and 195 lb-ft of torque. Here, too, a six-speed manual comes standard, while the optional autoshifter is a seven-speed dual-clutch unit. All Elantras are front-wheel drive.VIEW PHOTOS
As in the Sport sedan, the GT Sport swaps out the standard torsion-beam rear suspension for an independent multilink setup. Eighteen-inch wheels and larger brakes round out the changes to the performance-oriented model.

No matter the trim level, the Elantra GT’s interior looks upscale and sensibly laid out, with a dashboard design noticeably different from the sedan’s. An 8.0-inch display screen comes standard and offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality along with an updated version of Hyundai’s Blue Link infotainment software.VIEW PHOTOS
As with any hatchback, cargo-carrying practicality is an important consideration. The Elantra GT’s cargo hold boasts 25 cubic feet of space, which is between the Golf’s 23 and the Civic hatchback’s 26. With the 60/40 split rear seats folded, the Elantra provides 55 cubic feet of space, beating out both of those rivals (the Honda provides 46, while the Golf has 53).

The 2018 Elantra GT will reach dealerships this summer and is likely to be priced starting around $20,000. That’s higher than the Elantra sedan’s $17,985 base price, but the GT will try to justify its higher price using its enhanced practicality and style.

Unfortunately, the new Hyundai i30 N is, by all accounts, a terrific hot hatchback.

The i30, you’ll recall, is essentially the Hyundai Elantra GT that’s beginning to arrive in U.S. showrooms, a pleasantly tasty car in Sport trim.

But Hyundai’s new performance N sub-brand, headed up by former BMW dynamics sage Albert Biermann, is not yet America-bound. And while European critics broadly praise the i30 N — not just as “a pretty stunning first effort from Hyundai’s N division” but “up there with the best” competitors — and celebrate the availability of yet another viable performance car, the car will not make it across the pond.