The Azera – like all recently upgraded Hyundai models – is a fiercely competitive entry, in a segment where Hyundai is not a significant player at fewer than 3,000 units annually.
Hyundai Motor America showed its all-new Azera at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week following its global introduction as the Grandeur in Korea, where it is the best selling car.
The five-passenger large sedan is built on a 112-inch wheelbase, with an overall length of 193 inches and a width of 73.2 inches – neatly fitting the space between its 190-inch Sonata, and 197-inch Genesis models. It’s EPA rated at 107 cubic feet of interior space, with 16.3 cubic feet of trunk room.
Azera will also be priced between Sonata and Genesis, with only two variations – Azera and an Azera with a technology package. This means probably one model at the low end of $30,000 and one approaching $40,000. To move this far upscale, Hyundai is offering potential buyers premium materials, advanced technology and arguably class leading safety and powertrain performance.
Azera is now the fifth vehicle to adopt the company’s so-called Fluidic Sculpture design language. Like it or not – and sales are at record levels – in the space of a couple of years the Hyundai lineup has incorporated this style across the board. Tucson, Accent, Elantra, Sonata and now Azera all have a discernible family style – something often promised at other car brands, but rarely achieved.
Maybe the design is over the top for more conservative buyers.
The second generation Azera takes the smaller Sonata design cues to a more exaggerated or apposite level depending on your viewpoint, and is targeted at buyers of large sedans. In the U.S. this segment is running at ~600,000 units annually, although roughly half of the total is sales to fleets, which Hyundai will deliberately shun.
Azera also has a more powerful Lambda II V6 – all Hyundai engines are Greek in name – 3.3-liter, 293 horsepower direct injection gasoline engine, a six-speed automatic transmission, and what’s projected as best-in-class combined fuel economy of 23 miles per gallon, 20 city and 29 on the highway. At almost 89 horsepower per liter of specific out, the V6 is at the moment unchallenged.
This Lambda II V6 engine has a high-pressure direct injection system – running at more than 2,200 psi. This injection system eliminates the need for a larger displacement V6 engine – good thing since it’s really the smallest V6 in this class – and increases the compression ratio from 10.4 to 11.5:1 for greater thermal efficiency and therefore output. Lambda II also has an all-aluminum construction, four valves per cylinder, piston cooling oil jets, roller timing chain, and Dual Continuously Variable Valve Timing (D-CVVT). A three-stage Variable Intake System (VIS) – short runners, then long runners, then short runners as engine speed increases, which broadens the power curve to improve the vehicle’s off-the-line acceleration and passing performance. On paper this is one formidable powerplant.
Other Azera highlights include:
- Nine standard airbags – including a driver’s knee airbag
- Impact-reducing front seat system
- Standard vehicle stability and traction control, ABS with Brake Assist and EBD
- Best-in-class head and leg room for front-seat passengers
- Standard 18-inch alloy wheels; optional 19-inch alloy wheels
- HID Xenon headlights with LED accents
- A standard navigation system with rearview camera
- Standard leather interior with ventilated and heated front and rear seats
- Dual automatic climate control
- Second row air vents
- Cooled glove box
- Bluetooth hands-free phone system with voice recognition
- Blue Link telematics platform
- What’s said to be a segment-first manual side window sunshades
- Probably best-in-class front head and leg room
- Electrochromic auto-dimming mirror with HomeLink
- Power rear sunshade
- Three months of XM Satellite Radio
- Real-time XM NavTraffic, XM NAV Weather, XM Sports Ticker and XM Stock Ticker
- HD radio
- Auxiliary iPod/USB inputs
The stability control, VSM in Hyundai marketing speak, compensates for two potentially dangerous conditions. The first is when a driver accelerates or brakes on a split-mu surface – slippery on one side, dry pavement on the other- where a non-controlled car tends to pull in one direction. VSM detects this condition and applies counter steering assist. VSM also reacts the same way during sudden lane changes or fast cornering.
Azera also nine airbags including dual front, front and rear seat-mounted side-impact, front and rear side curtain airbags and a driver’s knee airbag.
The Azera – like all recently upgraded Hyundai models – is fiercely competitive entry, in this case in the large car segment. Azera will provide a real choice for shoppers of large Toyota and Lexus models, as well as the slow selling Ford Taurus – off 10% at ~53,000 ytd of 619,000 total Ford car sales. Azera is also trouble for the upcoming revised Chevrolet Impala in 2013. The existing Impala is road kill here, in my view. As always, the buyers will decide what’s the best value, with Azera likely pulling sales from less expensive and more expensive Chrysler, Dodge, Nissan and Infiniti models too.
