Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest carmaker, on Tuesday took the wraps off of its new Sonata hybrid midsize sedan as the company moves to expand its footprint in the rapidly growing green vehicle market.
   
The new vehicle that took 27 months and 180 billion won (US$164.2 million) to develop incorporates the refined Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design found on all new Hyundai models, and has been tested to achieve "best in class" combined fuel economy of 18.2 kilometers on a liter of fuel when equipped with standard 16-inch tires, the company said. 
   
This is superior to the 16.8 kmpl range achieved by the Sonata hybrid it replaces, with the car releasing 91 grams of carbon dioxide gas per kilometer driven, better than the 100 grams released by the existing Sonata hybrid.
   
Hyundai stressed that the new vehicle will be the first locally made car to be eligible for Seoul's stringent eco-friendly subsidy scheme. The scheme that goes into effect next year gives an extra 1 million won in cash support to people who buy cars that emit less than 97 grams of CO2 per kilometer traveled.
  

With various state subsidies and tax breaks applied, the base "Smart" trim Sonata hybrid has a sticker price of 28.7 million won, 250,000 lower than the outgoing model, with the top-of-the-line "Premium" reaching 32 million won.
   
The car shares the same overall dimensions as the seventh-generation Sonata that was launched earlier in the year, but has a bold fascia, and includes changes to the bumper and front and rear lamps. The car's grille is reminiscent of Hyundai's Genesis and many Audi sedans. 

Hyundai said the car has much improved driving characteristics compared to the outgoing model and has top-of-the-range safety features, such as forward collision warning, adaptive smart cruise control and blind spot detection as options.
   
The new car is part of a broader plan to help the company increase its eco-friendly vehicle lineup to 22 by 2020, and make it more competitive in the global green car sector, dominated by Japanese rivals at present. Sales of green cars are expected to reach 2.4 million units in 2015, a gain of 22.2 percent on-year.
   
The car is 4,855 millimeters long from bumper to bumper, is 1,865 mm wide and stands 1,475 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,805 mm. This makes the car longer, wider and taller than the first-generation Sonata hybrid. The new car's wheelbase is 10 mm longer than the previous model.  
   
The new Sonata hybrid is driven by the company's first dedicated 2-liter GDI hybrid engine mated to a 38 kilowatt motor.

The internal combustion engine's output has been rated at 156 horsepower, higher than the 150 ponies on the existing Sonata hybrid that has a 35 kilowatt motor.
   
This combination generates 20.9 kilogram meter of torque, with emphasis placed on providing good response at lower RPMs. 
   
"The better response at lower RPMs of the engine addresses one of the most common complaints of hybrids, which is that they are not good at swift acceleration," the company said. It added that the new car even has a "sport" mode that will provide a fun driving experience.
   
Delivery of power is helped by the efficiency and relatively light weight of the in-house "parallel hybrid powertrain" arrangement that makes use of a smooth six-speed transmission.

Another fuel-saving feature is the automobile's drag coefficient of just 0.24, which is lower than the 0.27 for the gasoline driven Sonata.
   
The carmaker, the flagship of Hyundai Motor Group, the world's No. 5 automotive conglomerate, said the battery pack capacity on the car has been increased 13.3 percent from the existing car to a 1.62 kilowatt-hour unit that improves the Sonata hybrid's ability to move farther without the need to burn fuel.
   
Other fuel-saving features include an automated system connected to onboard navigation that advises the driver to take his or her feet off the accelerator and allow the car to coast in certain conditions. 
   
Hyundai said it aims to sell 18,000 Sonata hybrids in its home market in 2015, with the overseas sales goal set at 37,000 units.

The new car is expected to make its debut in the United States and other select foreign markets in the first half of next year. (Yonhap)