New Car Overview of the 2006 Hyundai Azera Full-size Near-Luxury Sedan

Description: Full-size Near-Luxury Sedan
Base MSRP Range: $24,335 - $26,835
Invoice Price Range: $21,901 - $24,151
Where built: South Korea

Hyundai's luxurious new four-door flagship, which supplants the XG350 in 2006, forges a premium performance sedan sculpted with aerodynamic sheetmetal and crafted with a five-seat cabin lined in leather. Azera offers two trim tiers with GLS and Limited.

Engine for either is Hyundai's dual-cam 3.8-liter V6 that produces 265 hp in concert with a five-speed automatic transmission with Shiftronic shift mode. Noteworthy safety features apply like ESC with TCS plus eight air bags including curtain-style air bags in the ceiling above each side window.

Azera GLS applies deluxe fabric on seats with power controls for front buckets and a bench in back with split folding seatback, an automatic climate system and leather-wrapped steering wheel. The Limited model upgrades with 17-inch alloy wheels, leather upholstery with heated front seats, electroluminescent gauges in the instrument cluster and an electric sunshade in the rear window.

Hyundai, largest car company in South Korea, invests in North America with its new Alabama assembly plant, a technology and engineering center in Michigan, research and design studios in California plus a test track in the Mojave Desert. As a result, many of the vehicles in Hyundai's extensive lineup for 2006 skew directly toward the American market -- such as Sonata, a mid-size sedan with V6 power that comes together at the Alabama plant. Azera pops up as Hyundai's elegant new flagship sedan for the USA, and Accent, smallest car in Hyundai's fleet, rolls out in a new design with segment-leading standard safety systems aboard.