Auto News 5

Five years ago this month, I wrote about the 2006 Hyundai Sonata, saying, "It isn't beautiful, elegant, or at all innovative, but neither is it ugly, clumsy, inelegant, or embarrassing," and I concluded that, "One more generation of Sonatas, if the designers continue in this trajectory, should see Hyundai becoming downright desirable."inline_mediumwraptextright28498504/features/by_design/1005_2011_hyundai_sonata_design_analysis1005_03_z+2011_hyundai_sonata+front_and_rear_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue

Well, now I understand what all the fuss is about: With one stroke, Hyundai has transformed the Sonata from rental-car, bottom-of-the-heap status to a legitimate threat to the kings of the lucrative and all-important mid-size-sedan segment, the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Nissan Altima. The four-cylinder engine and the six-speed transmission work very well together and should indeed meet the needs of many people who thought they wanted or needed a V-6 engine, and the bonus is an amazing 35-mpg highway fuel economy rating. With 198 hp on tap and a relatively modest curb weight of 3200 pounds, the Sonata had plenty of power for my brief stint on the freeway, where I easily merged into the traffic stream and accelerated to 90 mph.inline_mediumwraptextright28740268/reviews/editors_notebook/1004_2011_hyundai_sonata_limited1004_07+2011_hyundai_sonata_limited+front_three_quarter_view.jpgTrue

This February, following nine months of discussion between General Motors and China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company, negotiations to sell the Hummer brand collapsed. Even though other potential suitors were rumored, GM has halted its H3 assembly line in Louisiana and begun winding down Hummer retail operations. Desert Storm's poster child and the vehicle that Arnold Schwarzenegger personally help turn into every sportsman's dream machine has expired.inline_mediumwraptextright26257015/features/news/1004_hummer_is_historyhummer-H3T-front-three-quarters-view.jpgTrue