I don't think anybody is saying that Hyundai is aspiring to be a Toyota/Honda. They want to surpass them. Being competitors in a very saturated segment, it would be logical to target the benchmark for the cars in the midsize sedan class; that being the Camry and Accord. Looking at the new Sonata design, that’s what it looks like Hyundai has done. There is nothing wrong with that. Accord/Camry sales numbers and their long term reliability have consistently been at the top or near the top year after year. Tell me which manufacturer doesn’t want that for their own product?
Camry/Accord products are not revolutionary, each new model has similarities to the previous generation design. The Accord and Camry are mature products and require evolutionary changes to so that they don’t isolate their target market. Honda and Toyota knows who buys these things and they’ve basically perfected the formula for building these things.
With that being said, the evolution is making what's good...better. Each new release will offer better fit and finish, better interior ergonomics, better NVH, better driving dynamics, better this and better that. Each model gets better and better with more features being offered, thus raising the bar for the rest of the carmakers. Just because you’re sitting on the top of the sales charts doesn’t mean you can sit still and enjoy the view. Everybody is gunning after that spot and Hyundai is a serious threat. Do you think Hyundai wants to occupy that position? Is anybody in a competitive market happy with 3rd place? 4th place?
I think most people here recognize that this new Sonata will sell well. Nobody is really disputing that fact at all. It's priced right, and it's pretty well designed. The discussion has been about how good the Sonata is, and how well it will stack up to a newly designed Camry/Accord. How well did Hyundai do on the little things? Will the new Honda/Toyota be good enough in doing things right to warrant the extra bit in price?
