2007 Hyundai Elantra

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Just a couple of interior shots before we see the official pictures in a few days.

It looks really nice, better than the larger Sonata.
A good thing would be to drop the 2.4 Liter engine in there.

And let’s hope the Sonata gets a more interesting interior soon.

Conversation 13 comments

  1. Hmm, I like those steering wheel controls, and they’ve improved the radio unit placement over the Sonata. This interior looks better laid out than the Sonata, although I’m hesitant to say it has better materials.

    Personally, this doesn’t look anything impressive over the current dated Corolla’s interior, and the new Civic’s interior, although weird to some, is certainly more stylish than this. If the new Corolla interior follows the new Camry’s interior in the same vein, then it may also be more stylish, and a flat out better interior.

    I have a feeling this interior will become dated very quickly.

    No one can deny the immense improvement Hyundai has seen over the past few years, but it’s taking it’s toll on the company (profits are sharply declining, top execs linked to Hyundai being probed by investigators), and Hyundai seems to be falling into the same mindset as the domestic makers; the fact that most of their new models merely try and match the current competition, instead of aiming to beat the current competition. The new Sonata is a perfect example of this.

    Mind you, this still seems to be one of the best interiors in it’s class, but Honda and Toyota remain a step ahead and a step above.

  2. I was suspecting you are somehow liked with Hyundai…but after all the posts and hype for their ugly SUV, and now calling this unbelieveably ugly interior “nice” (!!!), I’m sure you’re sponsered by Hyundai…

  3. this is a much nicer interior than the last elantra, but ill have to disagree and agree. disagree on the fact it looks nicer than a sonata, or even is all that phenomenal. there are plenty of cars in its class that have just as nice or nicer interiors, and agree with the fact that the desighn looks like a minivan sorta like a toyota siennas interior….

  4. This does look nicer than Sonata interior, which desperate needs a redesign. I don’t know who signed off on that thing.

    I like the chunky cute steering and the material has nice deluxe-matte appearance. It will be a pleasant surprise if it is actually soft-touch squishy material.

    I agree with johnson about Hyundai not being able to exceed the competition. When Sonata was first released, it did trump the competition in most areas, but the competition was already quite dated.

    They better really blow away the competition with this new Elantra to make up for the Sonata’s underperformance.

  5. It looks like Hyundai squeezed the interior of the Altima and the Corrola into one entity. IMO, it doesnt look too mad. It might not be as tendy as the new Civic but I cant imagine that the price will be close to that of a Civic though. In any case, its miles better than the Sonata’s atrocious thing Hyundai calls an interior.

  6. They better not put in the 2.4L engine, Elantra is already behind the Civic in both horsepower AND economy. I think in tomorrow’s world of $4. gas, they need to focus more on economy…the Sonata V6 can be had cheap if you want performance. 130-140 hp is plenty if you can muster in the 32-34 MPG range in mixed driving. Unfortuantely for Hyundai, I get 29 MPG in mixed driving in my MUCH nicer and more powerful Accord.

  7. I might also add that when the new Sonata was released, it’s not like the competition was prepared ahead of time as to how good the new Sonata would be. It was a giant leap over the previous model. But even with this in mind, the new Camry still trumps it in many areas, and this is keeping in mind Toyota did not factor in the new Sonata in the Camry redesign.

    With the next Camry, and possibly the new Accord, I’m pretty sure that Honda and Toyota are now seriously factoring in the threat from Hyundai into their new cars.

    The next Camry is supposed to get an all new platform, is this Camry simply sits on the revised platform that debuted in 2002.

    But getting back on topic, I doubt the new Elantra will make big waves. As seen by all the current exterior and now interior shots, the new Elantra was designed to match the current competition, namely the last gen Civic and current dated Corolla. It may trump the current Corolla in a few areas, but the new Corolla will likely leapfrog it.

    In interior and exterior, I can confidently say this Elantra will look more dated than the new Civic.

  8. 2007 Hyundai Elantra – Dated?
    Strange comments about 2007 Elantra. We haven’t seen the full unveiling but yet we are to believe the re-designed Elantra is “dated”.

    The mention of the upcoming Corolla’s interior, which we have yet to see is also interesting since the expectation is that it will look somewhat similar to the new Camry’s interior and what if it isn’t all that then what?

    No doubt the Sonata’s interior is not my favorite either but its sales are far from anemic. Its sales have increased more than 51% since the start of 2006. Sonata outsells the Jetta, Galant, Pontiac G6, Chevy Malibu, Maza 6 and more.

    Like I said lets wait for the New York unveiling to make a “final” verdict on this re-designed ride.

    Jac

  9. some people prefer this type of interior over the futuristic interior found in the new civic… i think it looks pretty good

  10. Definately better than the previous Elantra’s interior. I don’t know what people are talking about, it looks pretty good to me. ^^ I’ll be waiting for full exterior and interior pics before I make further judgement.

  11. Jac, there have already been several shots of the car’s exterior and interior floating around on the ‘net.

    The exterior seems pretty decent, looking like a more stylish Corolla. The interior, which we ghave full shots of (only partials so far of the exterior) does look sort of plain and dated, compared to say the new Civic interior. The new Civic interior looks futuristic, and is a bit polarizing to some, but you cannot deny it is an interior that brings curiousity and excitement to people.

    This new Elantra interior is not that different from the Corolla’s current plain looking interior. And the Corolla is due for a redesign, while the Elantra is new.

    We have seen a few blurry spyshots of the new Corolla interior, and it looks more stylish and upscale compared to the Elantra interior. Toyota has publicly said they wanted to make the new Camry and Corolla more edgy and exciting. So far, they’ve done that with the new Camry, and I see no reason why they won’t do the same with the Corolla. Seeing how stylish and exciting the new Civic is, it lends further credence that Toyota will make the new Corolla a lot more interesting compared to the current one.

    I find it ironic that you’re listing cars such as the Jetta, Galant, Mazda 6. These are some of the lowest volume sellers in the midsize sedan class, so for the Sonata to be outselling them is not a noteworthy achievement.

    A significant percentage of Sonata sales are going to fleet, it’s actually one of the top 5 fleet cars in the country. Cars like the Camry and Accord are not even in the Top 10, and likely Top 20 for fleet sales.

    But I don’t see what the Sonata’s sales have to do with the subject at hand.

    Now that the new Camry is out, we will see how Sonata sales hold up under pressure.

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