The Good Housekeeping Institute awarded the Hyundai Sonata with
its "What Women Want" Automotive Satisfaction Award for the entry
midsize car category. The study, based on an annual J.D. Power
automotive study, is designed to find out what women find most
important when buying a new automobile.

Safety is the primary determinant of satisfaction by women according
to the Good Housekeeping Institute, and the Sonata comes standard
with driver and passenger front airbags, front seat-mounted side-
impact airbags and automatic front safety belt pretensioners that
automatically remove slack from front safety belts at the onset of a
collision. The Sonata also offers the high-tech Hyundai Passenger
Presence Detection system, which prevents the front passenger airbag
from deploying if the seat is empty. The passenger presence system
reduces crash damage costs by eliminating unnecessary passenger side
airbag deployment.

Engine performance, including full acceleration and handling, are
very important to women, even slightly more so than to male drivers,
according to the Good Housekeeping Institute. To satisfy performance
demands, Sonata is available with an all-aluminum 2.7-liter V6 DOHC
powerplant that develops 170 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 181 lb-ft.
of torque at 4,000 rpm. Sonata also features a double-wishbone front
suspension and a multi-link rear suspension. This combination
provides a balance between the smooth ride of a luxury car and the
handling performance of a sport sedan.

The 2004 "What Women Want" Automotive Satisfaction Study, conducted
for the sixth consecutive year by Good Housekeeping and J.D. Power
and Associates, is an enhanced version of an annual J.D. Power
automotive study. Results are based on responses from more than
100,000 new vehicle owners—nearly 43,000 of them female. The
evaluation criteria included satisfaction with overall condition of
the vehicle's interior, solid and durable construction, interior
quietness of the vehicle, overall condition of the vehicle's
interior, and vehicle safety. As part of the 2004 study, over 40,000
female new-vehicle owners were surveyed to determine their favorite
vehicles in eight different segments.

Source: Hyundai