Take Test Drive Of Hyundai Sonata

If You are going to Buy a new Sonata? Don't worry, it's not a taxi...

A NEW Hyundai Sonata will be launched in Singapore in March, but it will not be operated as a taxi, says authorised Hyundai distributor Komoco Motors.

'We are not going to turn it into a taxi,' Ron Song, Komoco's director of operations, has been quoted as saying. 'It would be too extravagant for the job.

In fact, the new model may not even be called a Sonata.

It is understood that Komoco may propose a name change, partly because the new car is bigger, longer and bears no resemblance to its predecessor, and partly to distinguish it more clearly from the taxi model.

The new sixth-generation YF Sonata embodies the Korean car maker's new 'fluidic sculpture' design and looks radically different from the car it replaces.

Powered by a new two-litre, 165-horsepower petrol engine mated to a new six-speed automatic gearbox, the new car took four years and 450 billion won (S$540 million) to develop. It was introduced in its home market in September.

The cabin is more upscale than that of the previous car and it has a wider variety of standard equipment, including a start button, steering-mounted shift paddles, vehicle dynamic control, and bluetooth connectivity.

Komoco did not give more details, but the car is expected to cost slightly more than the old Sonata and will most likely be benchmarked against the best-selling model in this segment: the Toyota Camry.

The current fifth-generation NF Sonata was adopted as a taxi by ComfortDelGro when full-scale introduction of the diesel model began in March 2007. The cab version has a two-litre turbo-diesel engine mated to a four-speed automatic transmission.

Since July this year, Komoco Motors stopped selling the passenger car version, so only 49 units were registered for private use in 2009.

About 6,500 Sonata taxis ply the roads, either as blue Comfort taxis or yellow CityCab versions. More units are expected to hit the roads in 2010 when it is expected that a substantial number will be ordered by ComfortDelGro as part of its replacement cycle.