San Francisco Let this be the first Hyundai story that does not say that Hyundai is really getting there. Hyundai is here. Right now, it outsells every import nameplate save Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. And its new, 2006 Sonata shows why it deserves to be onstage alongside the other big boys.
The outgoing Sonata's first-place finish among "entry mid-size" vehicles in J. D. Power's Initial Quality Study and its clean bill of reliability from Consumer Reports would seem to put the quality question to rest at last. (Although . . . the old Sonata was built in Korea, but the new one will come together at a new plant in Alabama, and given the quality problems Mercedes-Benz and Nissan experienced with brand-new factories in Dixie, it's possible that, initially, the new Sonata might not equal the quality of the old.)
Any issues that do crop up had better be addressed quickly, because you can't play in the big leagues being almost as good but cheaper. Fortunately, the new Sonata can stand on its merits.... Read full article