Hyundai Motor Company unveiled the Sonata D-Edge, a full-model change variant of the 8th generation Sonata, at the ‘2023 Seoul Mobility Show’ held at KINTEX on Thursday, March 30. Alongside this, the company demonstrated its vision for the future of robotics with an automated electric vehicle charging robot and delivery robots.
During the launch event for the Sonata D-Edge, Hyundai showcased its dynamic design and significantly improved marketability.
Hyundai’s CEO, Jang Jae-hoon, stated in his speech, “The Sonata D-Edge, which is making its global premiere here at the Seoul Mobility Show, is a vehicle with unparalleled marketability,” adding, “Hyundai regards the Seoul Mobility Show as a place for connecting the present and the future, and a venue to confirm and share Hyundai’s direction.”
The Sonata D-Edge redefines domestic mid-size sedan standards with a design that rivals full-model changes and convenience and safety specifications extending beyond its class.
It features a sporty sedan feel with sharp design cues, premium convenience features equivalent to a large sedan that enhances customer lifestyles, and the best safety specifications in its class, all while fulfilling fundamental quality with significantly improved completeness.
Hyundai has implemented a more sophisticated and sleek exterior, alongside a spacious interior that embodies the design identity of ‘Sensuous Sportiness’—an essence added to sporty allure—characterized in existing models.
The seamlessly connected ‘Seamless Horizon Lamp,’ which horizontally crosses the front DRL (Daytime Running Light), adds to the futuristic sentiment along with the ‘H Light’ at the rear.
The side profile emphasizes a sporty image with a low front end and a long hood that leads into a smooth roofline reminiscent of a fastback.
The interior design of the Sonata D-Edge retains its driver-focused structure while incorporating refined high-tech details that evoke the essence of a premium sedan.
The panoramic curved display, a first for Hyundai, features a seamless integration of the digital cluster and navigation screen that extends from the driver’s seat to the center fascia, leaving a clean and sophisticated impression.
The exterior colors include new shades that reflect high-tech sentiments felt in advanced aircraft, such as ▲Aero Silver Matte, ▲Abyss Black Pearl, ▲Serenity White Pearl, ▲Nocturne Gray Metallic, ▲Transmission Blue Pearl, ▲Biophilic Blue Pearl, ▲Ultimate Red Metallic, and ▲Nocturne Gray Matte, providing customers with a rich array of choices.
The interior colors are offered in ▲Black, ▲Grayish, ▲Camel, and ▲Navy, with the N Line model featuring exclusive dark gray with red accents for a sporty emphasis.
Hyundai has equipped the Sonata D-Edge with various advanced technologies to significantly enhance convenience.
The Sonata D-Edge is equipped with wireless software update functionality across all trims, allowing vehicles to always maintain the latest specifications, moving one step closer to the Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) concept.
The options available include ‘Digital Key 2’, which allows users to unlock and start the car using only their smartphone, and the ‘Built-in Cam 2’ that improves recording quality and allows voice recording.
In addition, features such as ▲Hyundai Cafe Pay, enabling refueling and parking payments without cash or physical cards via a dedicated app, ▲After Blow, which dries the air conditioning system after engine shut-off, ▲Active Air Purification System, ▲Rear Passenger Alert, ▲Driver’s Posture Memory System, ▲Co-Driver Relaxation Comfort Seat, ▲Bose Premium Sound System with 12 speakers, and ▲Smart Electric Trunk amplify customer satisfaction significantly.
The Sonata D-Edge has loaded various safety features and driving assistance technologies to ensure customers’ safety.
It includes intelligent safety technologies such as ▲Highway Driving Assist (HDA), ▲Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control (NSCC), ▲Blind-Spot Collision Avoidance Assist (BCA), ▲Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Avoidance Assist (RCCA), and ▲Safe Exit Warning (SEW), which actively respond to driving conditions to prevent accidents and ease driving.
Furthermore, driving and parking assistance features such as ▲Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA), ▲Rear Parking Collision Avoidance Assist (PCA-R), ▲Surround View Monitor (SVM), and ▲Blind-Spot Monitor (BVM) make driving safer and more comfortable, even for less experienced drivers.
The Sonata D-Edge will be available with a total of five engine options: ▲Gasoline 2.5 Turbo, ▲Gasoline 1.6 Turbo, ▲Gasoline 2.0, ▲Gasoline 2.0 Hybrid, and ▲LPG 2.0. The N Line will include the existing ▲Gasoline 2.5 Turbo along with ▲Gasoline 1.6 Turbo and ▲Gasoline 2.0.
Hyundai will begin pre-orders for the Sonata D-Edge on Thursday, April 20.
Additionally, to allow customers to experience a contemporary lifestyle, a special pop-up titled ‘Into The Edge’ will be held at the Studio Layer57 in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, from Wednesday, April 19 to Wednesday, April 26, showcasing the design elements of the Sonata D-Edge through media art installations.
At this event, Hyundai will partner with brands that are creating new trends, including Bose, Arte Museum, and Polin, to deliver the unique sensibility of the Sonata D-Edge to customers.
At the Seoul Mobility Show, Hyundai presented its vision for the future of robotics by unveiling and demonstrating ▲ an automated electric vehicle charging robot and ▲ delivery robots developed by its Robotics Lab.
The automated electric vehicle charging robot is a single-arm robot designed to lift heavier ultra-fast chargers than existing chargers, and connect them to the vehicle’s charging port. It will return the charger to its original position once charging is complete, significantly enhancing the convenience of electric vehicle charging in the future.
The delivery robot is equipped with four PnD (Plug and Drive) modules, allowing it to move freely in all directions. It utilizes Lidar and camera sensor-based autonomous movement technology to optimize delivery routes and reduce delivery time.
Hyundai has established a special robotics demonstration space called the ‘Mobility House’ at the Seoul Mobility Show that exhibits ▲ the automated electric vehicle charging robot, ▲ the delivery robot, as well as ▲ personal mobility devices, ▲ MobED, and ▲ SPOT to showcase advanced robotics technology.
The Robotics Lab is actively developing demonstrations for delivery robots, electric vehicle charging robots, and the service robot DAL-e. This ongoing process helps in continually updating customer requirements to improve service quality.
Hyundai’s Robotics Lab Director, Hyun Dong-jin, emphasized, “Robotics, as a new business field that integrates advanced technologies from various sectors such as machinery, electronics, materials, and ICT, might seem like something from the future. However, it is already present in many aspects of daily life. Our Robotics Lab plans to expand the demonstration of delivery robots, electric vehicle charging robots, wearable robots, and service robots this year, ensuring that robots evolve into essential and ordinary components of everyday lives through continuous technological advancements.”
To respond to diverse customer expectations across various sectors, Hyundai unveiled the semi-large truck, ‘The New Pavis’, for the first time at the Seoul Mobility Show.
The New Pavis features enhancements such as a ▲ZF 8-speed automatic transmission, ▲6X2 cargo/chassis cap lineup, ▲cargo box opening support device, ▲LED lighting, and ▲emergency braking rear warning, strengthening its marketability compared to previous models.
Hyundai plans to reveal pricing and start contracts for customers in April.
Hyundai also unveiled its campaign for the Hyundai Truck & Bus brand. The campaign, which will be aired as the first-ever TV campaign for a domestic commercial brand, highlights the vital social roles that trucks and buses serve, centered around the slogan “We Get the Job Done.” The company aims to continue its branding campaigns for Hyundai Trucks & Buses in the future.
At the Seoul Mobility Show, Hyundai prepared the largest exhibition space of 2,600㎡ (about 787 pyeong) for a single brand under the concept of ‘Living this moment, Experience the Future Mobility.’ This space allows customers to experience Hyundai’s vision for future mobility and brand direction through various content.
The exhibition includes eight themed spaces: the ‘Sonata D-Edge Zone’, which artistically represents the real vehicle and its design features; the ‘Mobility House’ depicting future daily life with robotics; the ‘Kona Zone’, showcasing the all-new Kona Electric with BlueLink streaming service; the ‘Pavis Zone’ and ‘Avante Zone’ presenting upgraded models; the ‘Casper Zone’ with Casper-themed art; the ‘N Zone’ introducing the future of high-performance electric vehicles; and the ‘Kids Zone’ for children featuring collaboration with the Tobot animation series.
The ‘Sonata D-Edge Zone’ features a large LED screen mirroring the panoramic curved display to visually convey the Sonata D-Edge’s design image intuitively.
Additionally, a separate art room showcasing the Seamless Horizon Lamp has been prepared. The media art installation ‘Beach Cloud’ creates an experience that connects the endless horizon with the design of the Seamless Horizon Lamp.
The ‘Mobility House’ enables customers to vividly experience innovative robotics technology through demonstration programs featuring the automated electric vehicle charging robot, delivery robots, personal mobility devices, MobED, and SPOT.
The ‘Kona Zone’ showcases vehicles in the newly introduced ‘Meta Blue Pearl’ color from the all-new Kona Electric, alongside a ‘Digital Studio’ to explore vehicle features through virtual experiences including ▲advanced driver assistance systems, ▲virtual driving simulations, and ▲virtual showrooms.
A dedicated space for experiencing the upcoming ‘BlueLink streaming service’, launching in the first half of this year, is also prepared. Hyundai is expanding its entertainment offerings by securing a variety of online video services like Wavve and Watcha, alongside existing music streaming options like Melon and Genie Music for enhanced in-car entertainment experiences.
The ‘Pavis Zone’ adheres to the ‘Be Anything, Pavis’ concept, intuitively conveying the New Pavis’s superior market value to meet diverse customer needs. The truck’s interior in the display is styled to reflect ‘a trucker’s room full of hobbies’ to offer an open-space experience, and a large LED screen will showcase various special equipment mounted on the cargo area. An event offering drawing prizes for adding Hyundai Truck & Bus on KakaoTalk friends will also take place.
The ‘Avante Zone’ features the latest product improvement model of the Avante, which launched in March, exhibited for the first time to customers along with clothing items created in collaboration with the Musinsa fashion brand.
The ‘Casper Zone’ features the ‘CASPER in ART’ concept with the first-place winning art piece from the Casper drawing competition and three Casper art cars created in collaboration with global esports company Gen.G.
The ‘N Zone’ showcases high-performance electric vehicles, featuring the performance electric vehicle rolling lab ‘RN22e’ and the hydrogen hybrid rolling lab ‘N Vision 74’.
The concluding space, the ‘Kids Zone,’ is dedicated to young attendees, featuring the Ioniq 5, Avante, and Staria prominently alongside animated collaborations with Youngsilli’s transforming car robot, Tobot, to captivate children’s imaginations.
Hyundai is operating a tour program in collaboration with the interactive storytelling platform ‘Real World’ to provide customers with a more accessible and enjoyable experience at the Hyundai exhibition. Under the concept ‘Final Code: Humanity,’ visitors can explore all exhibition spaces of the Hyundai exhibition and complete missions. Customers who finish all missions via the Real World app will receive various prizes on-site, thereby enhancing the entertainment aspect for attendees.
A Hyundai representative expressed, “We hope this mobility show offers a chance for customers to resonate with Hyundai’s present and future direction through the diverse exhibitions and experiential elements we have prepared.”
By Lee Sang-jin, daedusj@autodiary.kr