Topic: Popular Mechanics Excellence Award

[jimmy10]

Popular Mechanics has bestowed the NF Sonata a 2006 Automotive Excellence Award in the safety category.


Thursday, September 08, 2005
Sonata wins award for safety:

The Alabama-made Hyundai Sonata sedan was named Wednesday a 2006 Automotive Excellence Award winner by Popular Mechanics magazine.

The car made in Montgomery won the prize in the safety category. The magazine's automotive editors chose the winners after carefully researching 100 contenders, said Don Chaikin, the chief auto editor.

The magazine said the Sonata's anti-lock brakes, stability control, traction guidance and comprehensive airbag system made it a clear winner. Such options are standard even on base models, which sell for less than $20,000.

"These features, which are available on a sub-$20,000 car, have been the province of cars costing two, three and four times what the Sonata costs," Chaikin said.

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I did find this press release from Hyundai about the Popular Mechanics award:

HYUNDAI SONATA WINS AUTOMOTIVE EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR SAFETY
POPULAR MECHANICS Magazine Honors Alabama-Built Sonata


Fountain Valley, Calif., September 15, 2005 - Hyundai Sonata captured one of POPULAR MECHANICS ' inaugural Automotive Excellence awards, winning the safety category. The award was announced in the October issue of POPULAR MECHANICS, one of the largest and most trusted men's monthly magazines, reaching more than 9 million readers.

The all-new Sonata sets a new standard for safety equipment with six standard airbags (dual front, front seat-mounted side-impact and front and rear passenger side curtain airbags), standard active front head restraints, standard ABS and, for the first time in the midsize sedan segment, standard Electronic Stability Control (ESC) with Traction Control.

"We're especially honored that Sonata was chosen by POPULAR MECHANICS ' editors as embodying excellence in safety," said Bob Cosmai, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. "The all-new Sonata celebrates Hyundai's commitment to lead the auto industry in the standard application of the most effective safety technologies."


"The Sonata truly merits the POPULAR MECHANICS Automotive Excellence Award for safety because it offers a full complement of both active and passive safety features as standard equipment in every model," said Don Chaikin, automotive editor, POPULAR MECHANICS. "By expanding the universe of automotive safety from the luxury end of the market to the very affordable, every-man end, the Sonata has broken new ground and crushed what amounted to very real market barriers."

POPULAR MECHANICS ' editorial staff selected Sonata after driving hundreds of thousands of miles in well over 100 different new cars, trucks and SUVs.

"The positive reaction from consumers and the automotive press to Sonata's segment-leading safety equipment has been rewarding," said John Krafcik, vice president, Product Development and Strategic Planning, Hyundai Motor America. "Winning the POPULAR MECHANICS Automotive Excellence Award for safety is further validation that Hyundai's leadership in standardizing the industry's most effective safety technologies - like Electronic Stability Control and side impact air curtains - will continue to resonate in the market."

The midsize Sonata is the best-selling sedan in the Hyundai product line, and the first 2006 model rolled off the production line in March at Hyundai's all-new manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Ala. The all-new Sonata was designed specifically to meet the needs of the American consumer and is the product of three years of intensive collaborative development at Hyundai's global R&D operations, including those in Michigan and California.

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif. is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Hyundai cars and sport utility vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced by more than 670 Hyundai dealerships nationwide.

About POPULAR MECHANICS
POPULAR MECHANICS is published by Hearst Magazines, a unit of The Hearst Corp"oration (www.hearst.com) and one of the world's largest publishers of monthly magazines, with a total of 19 U.S. titles and 142 international editions. Hearst reaches more adults than any other publisher of monthly magazines (76.3 million according to MRI, spring 2005). The company also publishes 19 magazines in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, The National Magazine Company Limited.
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[barrie1]

To me it shows what a small car company can do when they put their mind and some good engineering together to build a High Quality lower priced vehicle. Good for them. I am sure they have earned it fair and sqaure. 

[jimmy10]

Finally some nice comments about a not only great looking car but one of the safest on the road. This forum is so full of bashing comments on this car and I really don't know why. One would presume that safety is the most important feature of any truck or car. Beauty is all in the eyes of the beholder. I for one think this car,which was actually designed mostly on the looks of the Audi6 and not the Honda,is a great looking car.The more you look at it,the better it looks,but again beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.So which award would you drather your car to win and of course both would be nice,but most important would be?

[wing]

jimmy a lot of people on this forum like the Sonata, you have probably seen the few people that like to complain a lot, which is unfortunate.

[The Mighty Duck]

I just read that tonight, actually.  I was surprised/impressed to see Hyundai win something (especially from a mag like Popular Mechanics).  As for the Sonata...  nice looking car, and certainly sounding like great bang for you buck.  That said, I'm not entirely sold on their long-term reliability (yet?).

[jimmy10]

How right you are laspalmas.Isn't it funny that there are not many posts on this subject.Every other post on the Sonata there were many follow-ups and most were nasty comments about this car or Hyundai. Now they have a 5 star rating and win the safety award from this prestigous magazine and poof all the bashers dissapear,because they don't want to have to say anything positive about this great mid-size gem.Oh well what others think don't matter anyway.Its how satisfied you are yourself.My wife and I are big winners with this new car and its showing that we made a great choice.Safety is the most important trait we were looking for and we got it with this car.As a bonus we got a nice looking car with a great motor to boot and just think ,all this for thousands less than some of those fancy named cars. Oh and I also own a Jeep Cherokee,a Volvo,a loaded Z71 Chev pick-up,a Honda Civic and a Hyundai Accent(which we are selling now),this new Sonata sits well with all our vehicles. Owning this car isn't about being poor or rich,as some silly people rebutt,its about sensible buying and safety,along with good taste. Cheers!

[chris]

Actually, Laspalmas, I must disagree with your last post. 
Hyundai is going through the normal evolution of cheap new brand with issues, improving quality and image to producing what will probably be referred to as a high quality car.  Buyer caution is warrented as one can purchase proven quality from other companies... why risk an unproven company?  As the years go by and unproven becomes proven, fewer and fewer people will even talk about quality issues.  It's still early days with Hyundai (how long did Honda take to become the standard of reliability?) and those who buy now are taking a risk (when compared with Honda or Toyota) for long term reliability BUT not a big risk... likely the cars are an excellent and somewhat undiscovered value.

When comparing to GM I think the same situation exists.  I'm sure if we looked GM will have won many awards we could point to however, for decades GM cranked out very poor quality vehicles.  Certainly a select few were excellent but we don't remember the caddys or trucks which were probably great... we remember the cavaliers, vegas, corsicas etc. that we drove "back then".  While GM may have turned the corner on quality, there's a HUGE risk discount and for good reason... why take the risk that they've finally figured it out when you can pick up a proven product for comparable dollars?
GM is now having to prove themselves and it will, just like with Hyundai, take years before the buying public (not the learned savvy shopper who may have already clued in) will trust them with their dollars... unless they're discounted enough! 

Just be patient... soon toyota may be shooting to be as good as Hyundai 

[Craig]

Any chance we can just vote Jimmy and Meow off the island, so the hopelessly positive and impossibly negative forces surrounding this damn car won't have to be tolerated any longer?

[jimmy10]

Any chance we can just vote Jimmy and Meow off the island, so the hopelessly positive and impossibly negative forces surrounding this damn car won't have to be tolerated any longer?

Tsk,Tsk   ..... can you swim?

[barrie1]

CP I don't think thats called for at all as they are entitled to their opinions and views on their car choices the same as the rest of us.  The Hyundai products have come a long ways from their early beginnings here in North America and are building a greatly improved product then they originally did. I am a GM fan bigtime but do have great respect for the Hyundai products as well. They are building some very nice cars and are backing them up with a excellent warranty as well. 

[Craig]

Entirely called for.  Between Jimmy's fanboi act and Meow's lessons in forum trolling, this place is getting dumber by the day.

[barrie1]

Sorry CP I disagree, whether I agree with another posters thoughts on a certain car means nothing as they are entitled to their view. I don't always agree with all of the other posters statements but I do have respect for them and they have the right to be here the same as the rest of us. 

[jimmy10]

Entirely called for.  Between Jimmy's fanboi act and Meow's lessons in forum trolling, this place is getting dumber by the day.

Speaking of dumber,thats very ignoble of you ,calling it a fanboi act,especially since you don't know what the hell it means.
Cp,regarding other peoples posts that you seem to disagree with or don't like,theres an simple solution .Don't bother reading them,no sense getting your drawers in a knot. I have read a lot of stupid ,one sided posts in here,but that doesn't bother me,everyone has the right to show what they like,what they think  and if they like something that maybe you don't(SO WHAT),get a life,grow up and stop being so vexsatious.

[jimmy10]

Heres a look at what so many have called bland.Not bad looking for a reasonably priced car.If the Audi6 is what you call bland,then I guess this is also.This is my wifes car and I think it looks much nicer than many of the standard looking Hondas or Toyotas. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,and this is one hell of a car,not just because of the price,but because looks and safety also.(Not to mention many other great standard features)

[smainville]

To me it shows what a small car company can do when they put their mind and some good engineering together to build a High Quality lower priced vehicle. Good for them. I am sure they have earned it fair and sqaure. 

I'll concur with you on this Barrie1, but we can also say the very same of Honda   I'm sure if that rust bucket of yours would have been a Pony you would not be singing the same tune here today

[Craig]

Wikipedia on Fanboi

Fits to a "T".

And if you're gonna reach to the back of the vocabulary cabinet for "vexatious", check the spelling first.

Now, this ain't a revelation, but I actually like the new Sonata.  So much so, that I would consider buying one, were I in the market for a mnid-sized sedan.

Now, I also really like the cars my wife and I drive now.  As the X-Trail is new to these shores, I've defended it a few times from what I considered were unjustified criticisms.  But at least I didn't embarrass myself by donning pom-poms and performing cartwheels in front of one, though I'm sure Saffy would have enjoyed that.

I know that half you're posts are just to even out the negativity of posters like Meow (he should have been turfed yesterday for his little attack on the Pontiac Wave owner, but that somehow that idiot still has an account on these boards), but you come across like Will Ferrell.

[Wetson]

To me it shows what a small car company can do when they put their mind and some good engineering together to build a High Quality lower priced vehicle. Good for them. I am sure they have earned it fair and sqaure. 

I'll concur with you on this Barrie1, but we can also say the very same of Honda   I'm sure if that rust bucket of yours would have been a Pony you would not be singing the same tune here today

I agree.  Virtually all cars rusted out before the 90's.  Some more than others.

[barrie1]

Xtrail you are right in that it could have been a Pony that I bought many years ago but unfortunately or not it wasen't. I bought the other brand mentioned and had a terrible experience with it. I well remember the Pony's arrival and the lower cost as well that many folks appreciated at the time. Hyundai has improved greatly to the point it is really starting to show and they are winning awards now for it. They have earned their rewards with hard work into a better product that does stand out with much higher quality then ever before. I still say "Good for Them".

[smainville]

I think you're missing the point here barrie1, you should equally recognize that Honda is a premier auto manufacturer.  Las wrote: Honda had virtually nobody to imitate or to get ideas from years ago, not to sure about that one.  If we think about it the Civic became a car to eventually compete with the Corolla's or 210/Sentra, the Accord to compete with the Camry and Stanza, the Prelude to compete with Celica and 200SX.

[Wetson]

, it is easier for a company like Hyundai to vault ahead at a much more rapid pace.

We're forgetting the negative stigma attached to Hyundai that they have worked diligently to overcome that still exists today (although no longer true) because of the crap that Hyundai put out when they were still newborn in the auto sector.  I don't think it's been all to easy for them to get past the bad rep they used to have. 

Even though I know that Hyundai makes quality cars now I still won't buy one.  Why??? Because of that darn Stigma.