On Thursday last week the latest generation Hyundai Sonata got the top number of votes for the Wards 10 Best UX awards event and the Sonata was honored as the winner at this Summer Festival of Automotive. Also winning at this year’s show was the 2020 Nissan Sentra which won “Best in Show” among 2020 Wards 10 Best Interiors winners.
This eight-generation model is produces at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) for the North American market. This 2020 Sonata is the first sedan designed with Hyundai’s Sensuous Sportiness design language. It is a fully transformed vehicle showcasing a sporty four-door-coupe look and represents the automaker’s new focus on creating emotional value using proportion, styling, and technology.
This new Sonata comes with with a host of new Interior Convenience and Features:
- 8-inch LCD monitor (vs 7-inch LCD monitor)
- Electronic Parking Brake (new standard SmartSense feature)
- Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (new standard SmartSense feature)
- Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) (new standard SmartSense feature)
- Proximity key entry with push button start
- Hands-free Smart Trunk Release
- 4.2-inch colour LCD instrument cluster display
- Leatherette interior door panel inserts
- Liquid chrome interior accents
- Auto up/down front passenger window
- Power driver seat (8-way)
- Dual automatic temperature control
- Heated front seats
- Center rear armrest
- Hyundai SmartSense Safety
- Blind Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist with Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist
PRESS RELEASE: The three-day virtual event hosted by Wards’ parent company Informa Tech encompassed the WardsAuto Interiors Conference and WardsAuto UX Conference, as well as TU-Automotive Detroit, TU’s ADAS & Autonomous Vehicles Conference and TU’s Connected Car Insurance Conference. The event ended Thursday.
A virtual ceremony honored the 10 Best UX on Thursday, with video profiles produced by WardsAuto and acceptance speeches from the winning automakers. All the video content will be posted on WardsAuto.com in the coming weeks.
During the 10 Best UX ceremony, virtual attendees were encouraged to vote for their favorite among the 10 winners, and the Sonata was the top vote getter as Best in Show.
Wards editors in Detroit evaluated 18 vehicles with new or significantly improved user-experience features (such as touchscreens, voice controls, infotainment and driver-assistance technologies) in June in selecting this year’s 10 Best UX.
Judges found the Sonata to be a stunning UX value with big displays, high-resolution graphics, responsive voice control, a premium audio system and upscale materials, all for under USD35,000 as tested.
“We wanted to offer a premium experience in the 2020 Hyundai Sonata because we understand what our customers desire for their in-vehicle user experience,” says CJ Eckman, Hyundai’s manager of IOT Planning and Connected Car.
“To receive recognition by Wards and then from our industry peers for the Best in Show UX award during the annual conference is a huge accomplishment.”
This week’s Summer Festival of Automotive was completely virtual, but next year’s event potentially will be live, in Metro Detroit, depending on the COVID-19 infection rate.
