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About Sonata

The Sonata is Hyundai's midsize sedan and one of the brand's longest-running nameplates. For many American buyers it was the car that changed their minds about Hyundai: in the early 2010s, a swoopy new Sonata with coupe-like styling appeared in driveways across the country and suddenly made the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord look a little dull. That moment marked the start of Hyundai's reputation for adventurous design and set the tone for much of the brand's later success.

The Sonata dates back to the mid-1980s and has gone through many generations, growing from a modest family car into a polished midsize sedan with a long feature list. The current generation introduced a sleek fastback profile, a hybrid model with an available solar roof panel, and later an N Line version with a turbocharged engine aimed at buyers who want a bit of excitement. A facelift added a more dramatic front end with a full-width light bar in keeping with Hyundai's newer models.

The Sonata faces the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Kia K5, Nissan Altima and, increasingly, crossovers like Hyundai's own Tucson and Santa Fe, which have drawn buyers away from sedans. Its strengths include value, comfort, efficiency and an extensive feature list. The broader shift away from sedans has made its future less certain in some markets, and it receives far less attention than Hyundai's SUVs and electric models these days, even though reviewers still rate it as one of the better values in its class.

News about the Sonata is sparser than it once was, so the stories here often arrive as part of broader Hyundai coverage: sales reports, hybrid lineup expansions, recalls and comparisons with other midsize sedans. Watch for reviews of the hybrid and N Line, any news on future generations, and occasional nostalgic looks back at the car that helped turn a budget brand into a design leader, as well as debates about whether sedans still have a future at all.