Hyundai To Launch i45 By 2011 End

Hyundai India will launch the new Sonata by the end of the year. The Korean automaker will call the new Sonata as the i45 and the new car won’t feature the Sonata badge at all. This is a strategy by the company to re-brand the Sonata, as the D-segmenter has not sold very well after the new generation came along. The Hyundai i45 has been spotted numerous times in Chennai under going pre-launch tests. The i45 will be initially launched with a 2.4 liter GDI motor, producing 198hp of power and 250Nm of torque. A 2.2 liter diesel will be launched later, which is the same monstrous engine that does duty in the Santa Fe. With 197bhp of power and 420Nm of torque on tap, the i45 diesel will have enough power to tow its competitors.