(July 24, 2020) FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. — Following a complete redesign in 2020, the 2021 Sonata model line features available 19-inch wheels and tires, Safe Exit Warning and a six-way power passenger seat on the Limited trim. The 2021 Sonata goes on sale in August.   

The 19-inch alloy wheels with 245/40 R19 Pirelli P Zero tires are now standard on the turbocharged SEL Plus trim. P-Zero All Season tires are for driving enthusiasts who want a combination of a performance appearance, responsive handling and durability along with all-season traction, including in light snow.  

Safe Exit Warning (SEW) has been added to SEL, SEL Plus and Limited trims. SEW uses existing blind-spot radar sensors to automatically warn the driver and passengers if oncoming traffic is detected when parallel parked. The system provides an audible warning and a pop up message in the cluster to ‘Watch for Traffic’ to help to prevent back-seat passengers from stepping out into traffic.

“The 19-inch wheels and tires make a beautiful looking car look and perform even better,” said Scott Margason, director of product planning, Hyundai Motor North America. “After listening to our early 2020 Sonata buyers, we were quickly able to add power height adjustment to the passenger seat on the Limited trim. In addition, across the lineup we’ve added Safe Exit Warning that gives drivers a second set of eyes to let them know if it's safe to open the doors on the driver’s side of the vehicle when parallel parked on a busy city street.”

Customers can choose between two Smartstream gasoline powertrains: a 2.5 MPI/GDI and a 1.6 T-GDI engine, both mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. The Smartstream G2.5 GDI engine, with high-efficiency combustion, cooled EGR and an optimized ITMS cooling system, boasts a generous 191 horsepower at 6,100 rpm and 181 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,000 rpm. Meanwhile, the Smartstream G1.6 T-GDI has 180 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 195 lb.-ft. of torque at 1,500–4,500 rpm thanks to its world-first Continuously Variable Valve Duration (CVVD) system.

The 2021 Sonata features a number of advanced comfort and convenience features typically found only in luxury cars, including a panoramic sunroof, electric parking brake, hands-free smart trunk, Qi high-speed wireless smartphone charging pad with cooling fan, standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Text-to-Speech via Bluetooth, heated and ventilated front seats. The power passenger seat on the Sonata Limited goes from 4 to 6-way adjustment by the addition of height adjustment for additional comfort.  

The top-of-the-line audio and navigation display is a wide, high-definition, customizable, 10.25-inch touchscreen monitor with split screens and natural language, and cloud-based speech recognition powered by Blue Link, while the  cluster display is a full 12.3 inches. The cluster has four views: utility, driver assistance, navigation and parking assistance. The navigation system includes a bird’s-eye view in Navigation maps, and drivers get HERE HD Traffic flow and incident data without ever paying for a subscription. Dual Bluetooth support is also available, so two devices can be paired at the same time—one for phone calls and one for streaming audio.

The navigation system also comes with three years of Blue Link Multimedia/Map updates. Hyundai’s eight-inch display audio user interface, equipped with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, is standard on Sonata. The Blue Link connected car system is also available.