2015 Hyundai Sonata Se on 2040-cars

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China, meet Hyundai's new Mistra sedan

If there was no Hyundai badge, the front end styling of the Korean automaker's new China-only Mistra sedan could have fooled us into thinking it was a refreshed Nissan Altima. Walk around for profile and rear-end views, and we can see more than a bit of Azera in the newest Hyundai, too.
But the Mistra is indeed made for the Chinese market, Carscoops reports, and with a 185.6-inch length, 109.1-inch wheelbase and 71.7-inch width, in size it slots right between the Elantra and Sonata sedans. On the outside, the Mistra maintains Hyundai design cues but loses some of the swoopy styling employed on the Elantra and Sonata for more straight lines and angles.
The Mistra carries its more-restrained-than-Sonata looks to the interior, where occupants will be pleased to find brushed aluminum-look accents on the dashboard, some nice-looking wood trim (if that's your thing) and an easy-to-read instrument cluster with a digital center readout, similar to that in the Genesis sedan.

Chrysler and Hyundai join Pepsi and Coke as top Super Bowl spenders [w/ video]

Super Bowl XLVIII is barely a week away, and some of the early ads are already leaking out. It's timely then that The Street has released rankings of the top five Super Bowl advertisers since 2009, showing Chrysler and Hyundai/Kia taking two of the spots with $131.7 million in cumulative spending.
Since 2010, the cost to air a 30-second Super Bowl ad has risen from $3 million in 2009 to about $4 million in 2014, and about a fifth of advertisers opt for a one-minute ad, which doubles costs. Last year, the ads brought in $292 million, and they have brought in roughly $2 billion since 2010.
Chrysler has spent $64.3 million since 2009 to make it the fourth highest spending company in the last five years. In that time, the company has rebranded itself as it emerged from bankruptcy with the Imported from Detroit ad campaign that premiered in 2011 and last year's God Made a Farmer Ram Trucks ad. Its 2012 Halftime in America sparked national debate about whether it was also a reference to the upcoming presidential election.

Hyundai recalling 140k Sonatas over seatbelts

Hyundai is recalling about 140,000 examples of the 2015 Sonata in North America to repair a problem with the front passenger seatbelt not latching. Specifically, the problem affects 129,000 of the sedans in the US and 10,401 in Canada. On these models, if the seatbelt tongue is forcibly inserted into the buckle at a certain angle, then it can jam and not latch. Only the front passenger side is affected, and driver would be notified because a warning light would illuminate on the dashboard. The safety campaign covers 2015 Sonatas with production dates between April 25 and December 4, 2014, according to a statement to Autoblog from Hyundai, but there are no reports of injuries from this issue. Owners will receive notification by mail in about a month. To fix the problem, dealers will inspect the part and repair or replace it as necessary. Hyundai has already notified NHTSA about the recall, but the campaign hasn't been added to the agency's website yet. Transport Canada has already posted some information about it, though. Related Video: Hyundai Statement: We recently notified NHTSA of a safety recall we are initiating in the U.S. to repair or replace the front passenger seat belt buckle in approximately 129,000 2015 Sonatas that were built beginning April 25, 2014 through December 4, 2014. We are initiating this action to ensure the safety and quality of the vehicles and the continued satisfaction of our customers. In some cases, if the front passenger seat belt "tongue" is inserted into the buckle forcibly at an angle, the buckle may jam, preventing the front passenger from fastening the seat belt. The front passenger's seat belt warning lamp will illuminate if the front passenger seat belt is not buckled while the seat is occupied. This condition does not result in partial latching of the belt and does not affect the driver or rear passenger seat belt buckles. There are no reports of injuries attributed to this condition.