The new Elantra will certainly sell well in Canada at least, but I'm curious if it will steal sales from Corola/Cruze type or Mazda3/Civic?
I'm curious too. The new Sonata has proven to be a segment leader in objective performance, but it lags behind the Accord and Fusion (and presumably Mazda6) in terms of communicative driving experience. I'm wonderin whether this will also be a case where the Elantra walks all over the Focus/Civic/Mazda3 in terms of closed-course performance testing, but isn't as fun to drive at an 8/10ths pace on a back road.
I don't know if Sonata is a truly a segment leader in objective performance if you factor in more than 0-60 mph time. There are still conflicting reports out there (just read the IL Sonata Ltd Auto Full-Test). Based on the paper stats? Maybe.
My impression is that, while Hyundai is making waves adopting and implementing modern technologies in their cars, the execution is not quite up there yet. Sure, the engine is great, the tranny is great, the chassis may have all the goods, but when it comes to putting them together and make them act like one entity, they don't quite get it as good as they should.
Of course we don't know anything about Elantra right now, but we can speculate for fun ... My gut feeling is that they will not walk over new Focus/Civic/Mazda3 in any way.