Monkey See, Monkey Do, the New Sonata a Camry, Too

The new Hyundai Sonata is here in Malaysia. At first glance, its flowing lines make it look cool and contemporary.

Then, after a while, I started seeing the Toyota Camry underneath the new Sonata. All of a sudden, the new Sonata resembled a Camry-made-ugly.

Maybe it's just me. I tend to prefer cars that are curvaceous but more slanted with angular lines.Maybe it's because I've seen the precursor to the new Sonata, code-named the YF, and I prefer the YF.

Maybe it's a combination of both.

Whatever it is, Hyundai is not shy to compare the new Sonata to the Camry. Obviously, it's the executive saloon market that Hyundai is targeting with its new Sonata, a market segment in which Toyota's Camry is the current leader.

So, monkey see, monkey do. What works for the Camry should also work for the new Sonata with a few extra bells and whistles thrown in, like moon roof, larger-than-Camry interior and bold (and somewhat over-the-top) styling.

I suppose the deliberate intent to make the new Sonata like the Camry has tampered the bold "flow" styling, such that it looks a little too much. Also, the need to retain aspects of other Hyundai cars, like those of the X20, also limits the "flow" styling.

Bottom line, people like me would not be too impressed with the new Sonata. But if the new Sonata is at least as good as the Camry, I suspect many among those who like the Camry and are looking for a little more "boldness" would probably like the new Sonata enough to buy one for themselves.

For more details, see http://www.hyundaiusa.com/sonata/exterior.aspx

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Addendum: The following are pics of the Sonata YF, which I think is so much better looking than the new Sonata (2011).