Current National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regulations require automakers to achieve a CAFE rating of 35.5 mpg by 2016.  Before those rules were enacted last year, Hyundai had already announced its own plan to reach 35 mpg by 2015. Hyundai’s announcement of this longer-term goal of delivering a minimum 50 mpg CAFE rating by 2025 is consistent with its philosophy of setting stretch objectives that align its resources, challenge its team members, and delight consumers and society.

“We’re committed to setting the pace in this industry on fuel economy, and we’re inspired by the possibilities that our advanced Blue Drive technologies afford,” said John Krafcik, Hyundai Motor America president and CEO. “Getting to 50 mpg and beyond seems like a huge leap, but by making this commitment and aligning our R&D initiatives now, we know we can get there.”

2011 Hyundai Sonata

Hyundai has shown that customers will flock to high-quality, stylish products offering high fuel economy. The game-changing all-new 2011 Hyundai Sonata is the first mid-size family sedan to offer only 4-cylinder engines.  Sonata achieves an EPA highway rating of 35 mpg, yet leads competitors in power output through the use of advanced gasoline direct injection (GDI). Sonata’s sales were up 48 percent in the first half of 2010, while its transaction prices and residual values now exceed those of most mid-size competitors. The Sonata and its 2.4-liter Theta II GDI engine are built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama.

“This is our simple formula for success in the automobile industry,” said Krafcik. “Rather than fighting fuel economy regulation, we encourage our Hyundai engineers to deliver more fuel efficiency, faster, accelerating the benefits to our customers, society, and the planet.”

Since becoming the fuel economy leader in the 2008 model year, Hyundai Motor America market share is up more than 50 percent.

Florida Hyundai shoppers who would like to learn more about the most fuel-efficient Hyundai vehicles can visit http://www.hyundaiofstaugustine.com

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Award winning 2011 Sonata at Palm Coast Hyundai dealer

For 2011, the Hyundai Sonata, available at  Hyundai of St Augustine , is completely redesigned.

Smooth ride, high fuel economy, comfortable and handsome cabin, spacious trunk, capable handling, impressive value, strong safety scores and America’s best warranty (10 years/100,000 miles) have made the 2011 Hyundai Sonata from the leading Jacksonville Hyundai dealer an appealing choice for Florida Hyundai consumers. The 2011 Hyundai Sonata’s consistent favorable reviews have earned the prestigious AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Award. The Sonata scored the highest ratings ever in the 14 year history of AutoPacific’s vehicle satisfaction research hence AutoPacific is awarding the 2011 Hyundai Sonata with its first-ever President’s Award.

Owners of the new 2011 Sonata rated the importance and satisfaction with their car on 48 different attributes. These attributes ranged from styling to warranty to image to acceleration. It is a very comprehensive list.

The factors most important to owners of the 2011 Sonata are: overall quality, warranty, value for the money, reliability/dependability, fuel economy, ride, feeling safe while driving, safety features, exterior and interior styling, driver’s seat comfort and handling.

The importance of exterior and interior styling to Sonata owners is substantially stronger than for a typical Premium Mid-Size Car owner. In fact, when asking how satisfied they are with the exterior styling of the Sonata, owners rated its styling almost perfect. Discerning  Orange Park Hyundai consumers will love the fluid styling of the 2011 Sonata from Hyundai of St Augustine.

Other than aesthetics, consumers rated the Sonata on overall satisfaction, exterior size, warranty, interior styling, exterior color, braking, fun to drive, reliability, fuel economy, feeling safe while driving, safety features, overall quality, value, cruising range, seating capacity, and image. In all of these areas, Hyundai owners rated the 2011 Sonata higher than or equal to the 2010 model year leader in the class.

Florida Hyundai consumers in Orange Park, Jacksonville or Palm Coast  who are market for an affordable, mid-sized family sedan can shop Hyundai of St Augustine’s inventory online and find great deals on the award winning 2011 Hyundai Sonata.

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The Cars.com analysis consisted of six automotive journalists (including Jim Healey and Chris Woodyard from USA Today and Brian Robinson from PBS’s “MotorWeek”), a family of four and three days to determine: What’s the best family sedan you can buy for $25,000 or less? The answer was clearly “Sonata” as the new Hyundai model easily outpaced the field with 794 points on a 1000-point scale, beating second-place finisher Camry by 42.

Cars.com editors said, “[Sonata’s] striking design won over most, but it was the whole package that grabbed the title . . . None of the competitors came close.”

Hyundai’s all-new 2011 Sonata represents a modern approach to the traditional midsize sedan segment by using only advanced four-cylinder engines, emotional design and luxury features offered with Hyundai’s strong value proposition.  The Sonata launched with a new Theta II 2.4-liter gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine and in-house six-speed automatic transmission.  The vehicle offers class-leading fuel economy of 22 mpg city/35 mpg highway and 198 horsepower standard.

Hyundai also announced the 2.0-liter Theta II turbocharged GDI four-cylinder engine and Sonata Hybrid models at the New York International Auto Show, rounding out an exciting new 2011 Sonata lineup.

Consumers can learn more about the new Sonata by visiting http://www.2011-hyundaisonata.com

“Sonata was built to raise the bar in the midsize sedan category by integrating modern design and tremendous fuel economy into Hyundai’s value equation,” said Scott Margason, director, Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America. “Winning the Cars.com Family Sedan Shootout against the traditional volume leaders validates that Sonata hit the mark, and is poised to change consumers’ expectations in this competitive segment.”

Hyundai of St Augustine in Florida is proud to be one of the top sellers of the 2011 Sonata, offering an enhanced selection of trims, colors and features for every new 2011 Sonata.  With the help of the Sonata, Hyundai of St Augustine has been breaking their own sales records for the past few months, with April being their best month on record. The popular Florida Hyundai dealer outpaced production of new Hyundai cars with an astounding 85 new cars sold, 38 of which were new Sonata sedans.

For more information on new Sonata cars for sale in Florida, visit http://www.hyundaiflorida.com/

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Hyundai of St Augustine reports a record setting April with 126 units sold (3 more than were sold in March). The dealer outpaced production of new Hyundai cars with an astounding 85 new cars sold, 38 of which were new Sonata sedans and 12 were Tuscon SUVs.

The new Hyundai Tucson and Sonata models have been a major game changer for Hyundai this past year.  On a year-over-year basis, Sonata and Tucson sales increased 57 and 271 percent, respectively. Santa Fe was up 59 percent, and Genesis was up nine percent, marking the 10^th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gain for Genesis. Hyundai also introduced the Sonata Hybrid, the company’s first U.S. hybrid, which gets up to 39 mpg on the highway, using breakthrough lithium-polymer battery technology.

Hyundai of St Augustine boasts one of the most comprehensive selections of new Hyundai cars in Florida, including the award winning Sonata and Tucson. 

Learn more about the 2010 Hyundai Tucson .

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The all-new 2011 Hyundai Sonata has been the most considered vehicle on Edmunds.com for five weeks in a row – a first ever for Hyundai. And the all-new 2010 Tucson jumped all the way up to number two on the most recent list, in part because of extra marketing on the site. Sonata widened its lead over the Honda Accord and Civic, while the Tucson jumped from fourth to second, giving Hyundai ownership of the top two positions in the weekly analysis. Not surprisingly, the Sonata’s March 2010 sales were on par with both the Accord and Toyota Camry.

Earlier in the week, AutoTrader.com announced that the 2011 Sonata was their most-viewed vehicle in its class during the month of March. 

“Our two newest models, the 2011 Sonata and 2010 Tucson, are the heart of our lineup,” said Scott Margason, director, Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America. “We’re excited to see such positive consumer reception, not just in online consideration, but where it really counts — our showrooms.”

The Sonata, Tucson and, on occasion, the Hyundai Genesis, charged into the top 10 of most-shopped vehicles list on Edmunds.com a number of times in the first quarter. In fact, the first quarter of 2010 marked the first time ever that a Hyundai model captured the number one spot on the most shopped list since Edmunds.com began tracking shopping consideration data in 2007.

“Hyundai is doing a good job of marketing, which is driving shopping consideration, but also converting consideration to sales,” said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst and editor-at-large, who reported on this in great detail for Edmunds’ AutoObserver.com.  “In March, Hyundai sold 18,935 Sonata models, putting it in the same volume territory as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, which are perennially the best-selling cars in America.”

Hyundai sold more than 3,000 Tucson models in March nationwide for a 129-percent increase over year-ago levels.  The new Sonata and Tucson have been two of the best selling models at Hyundai of St Augustine.  In April, the dealership announced an all-time sales record for the month of March, with the Sonata and Tucson leading the way in sales.

Hyundai Motor Cars also reported record sales for both the first quarter of the year and for the month of March.

St Augustine Hyundai shoppers who would like to learn more about the award winning 2011 Hyundai Sonata and 2010 Hyundai Tucson can visit Hyundai of St. Augustine online.

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The record setting month for Hyundai of St Augustine mirrored and even surpassed the national sales gains of Hyundai Motor Corp which closed out February with impressive sales increases.  Overall, Hyundai Motor Corp reported an 11% increase in February 2010 versus February 2009, while Hyundai of St Augustine reported a staggering 60% increase in new car sales over the same time last year. 

Despite statewide economic challenges and lagging auto sales in Florida, Hyundai models like the Sonata, Tucson and Santa Fe helped push Hyundai of St Augustine to a record setting sales achievement in February. According to Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai Motor America’s vice president of national sales, “Our sales gains in February were driven by strong consumer response to new products like the Tucson, which was up 102 percent, and the all-new U.S.-built Sonata, which was just launched this month and has already driven a 58 percent sales increase.”  In addition to success of Sonata and Tucson, the freshened Santa Fe with a 52 percent increase, Genesis with a 39 percent increase, and Accent with a 22 percent rise, all registered significant growth over the same period one year ago.

The 2011 Hyundai Sonata joins an elite group of motor vehicles as a “Top Safety Pick” of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). This award is only given to those vehicles that do a superior job protecting people in front, side, rear and rollover crashes.  While past Hyundai models, such as the Genesis, have been named IIHS “Top Safety Picks,” the standards were higher than ever for 2010, with a roof strength test added to the qualifications. According to the new guidelines, roofs must be more than double the strength of current federal requirements in order to better maintain vehicle integrity in the event of a rollover accident.

Because this roof strength test is so demanding, many of the vehicles that had previously been named “Top Safety Picks” were dropped from the list in 2010.  From the 2011 Sonata’s inception, Hyundai engineers carefully considered the importance of roof strength and designed the newest edition to pass this high hurdle set by the IIHS.

The Sonata continues to draw in Florida consumers from as far as Jacksonville, Orange Park, and Palm Coast.  As one of the best selling models at Hyundai of St. Augustine, the dealership goes the extra mile to stock one of the largest most diverse selections of new and used Sonatas. 

Florida Hyundai shoppers who would like to learn more about the award winning 2011 Hyundai Sonata can visit Hyundai of St. Augustine online at http://www.hyundaiofstaugustine.com/index.htm

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Sonata is built from the ground up with safety in mind, with a hot stamped ultra-high-strength steel body structure, advanced airbag technology and Electronic Stability Control (ESC), delivering on Hyundai’s commitment to both active and passive safety technology leadership. In 2005, the Sonata was the first popular midsize sedan to standardize ESC– once again every 2011 Sonata has lifesaving ESC as standard equipment. This is important because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that ESC results in 35 percent fewer single-vehicle crashes and 30 percent fewer single-vehicle fatalities in passenger cars.

A smart choice for Florida families, the 2011 Sonata also features a state-of-the-art Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) including Brake Assist and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD).  Sonata features six airbags—including dual front, front seat-mounted side-impact, and front and rear side curtain airbags—along with active front-seat head restraints.

While past Hyundai models, such as the Genesis, have been named IIHS “Top Safety Picks,” the standards are higher than ever for 2010, with a roof strength test added to the qualifications. According to the new guidelines, roofs must be more than double the strength of current federal requirements in order to better maintain vehicle integrity in the event of a rollover accident.

Because this roof strength test is so demanding, many of the vehicles that had previously been named “Top Safety Picks” were dropped from the list in 2010.  From the 2011 Sonata’s inception, Hyundai engineers carefully considered the importance of roof strength and designed the newest edition to pass this high hurdle set by the IIHS.

The other IIHS “Top Safety Pick” standards are stringent as well — the institute’s frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of 40 mph frontal offset crash tests.  Each vehicle’s overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures recorded on a dummy representing a 50th percentile male in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.

Side evaluations are based on performance in a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph.  The barrier represents the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on two instrumented dummies representing an average-sized woman, assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle’s structural performance during the impact.

Rear crash protection is rated according to a two-step procedure.  Starting points for the ratings are measurements of head restraint geometry — the height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man.  Seat/head restraints with good or acceptable geometry are tested dynamically using a dummy that measures forces on the neck.  This test simulates a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph.

Florida Hyundai shoppers who would like to learn more about the award winning 2011 Hyundai Sonata can visit Hyundai of St. Augustine online at http://www.hyundaiofstaugustine.com/index.htm

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It has not taken long for the new Sonata to be in demand. Hyundai of St. Augustine is selling them as fast as they are getting them.

We are getting shipments in daily, but they are selling within 24 hours of hitting the ground.  We have a good supply of them being shipped to us, some of which are already pre-sold, so please do not delay in visiting Hyundai of St. Augustine to check out the new 2011 Sonata. 

We are offering a special lease program on the 2011 Sonata, but it won’t last long. 

Sonata is the second vehicle in Hyundai’s 24/7 version 2.0 product initiative (seven new models in the next 24 months) following on the heels of the all-new Tucson.

 The 2011 Sonata represents a modern approach to the traditional midsize sedan segment by using only advanced four-cylinder engines, emotional design and luxury features offered with Hyundai’s strong value proposition.

 A sophisticated look can be found inside and out.  For the interior, Hyundai has created an upscale ambiance thanks to a flow-through center console and instrument panel. These flowing surfaces complement the exterior design and wrap around the driver and passengers.  Sonata has the most interior volume of its key competitors. It is so spacious, Sonata continues to be classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Large car, truly a “class above” Camry, Altima, Fusion and Malibu (all are categorized as Midsize cars).

Sonata delivers an impressive 22 mpg city/35 mpg highway fuel economy rating with the available six-speed automatic transmission with SHIFTRONIC®. (When equipped with the six-speed manual, the Sonata achieves 24 mpg city/35 mpg highway fuel economy rating).

For more information or to test-drive a new Sonata, visit Hyundai of St. Augustine at 2898 U.S. 1 in St. Augustine, call them at 797-7800 or visit their Web site at http://www.hyundaiofstaugustine.com .

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