Some peg the Hyundai Sonata and Ford Fusion as being the new leaders of the mid-size segment. We have yet to test either to know for sure, but we would be inclined to agree.

General Motors, on the other hand, has been largely flying under the radar as it has made impressive gains.

The new Equinox is an extremely impressive product, and a lot of underlying data on sales for GM corporate-wide has gone unnoticed.

They results are showing up with consumers. Auto Trader has just released it’s automotive research data that shows the vehicles prospective consumers are looking at the most.

GM fares well – the Camaro is the top vehicle researched overall, and the Equinox sits at 8th place, leading all its competitors.

Hyundai, on the other hand, sees a huge jump with the new Sonata,  heading to the top of the mid-size segment and to

number 10 overall. Auto Trader also says the economic recovery is fueling interest in full-size trucks. Interesting data to be sure! It proves that GM, Ford and Hyundai are the companies to watch right now.

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Manufacturer-conducted races are pretty much a foregone conclusions for the company conducting it, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interesting to watch anyway.

This one done by Hyundai in Korea pits two cars that don’t seem like the likeliest candidates for drag racing – the new Sonata against with it’s 2.4 GDI 4-cylinder against the 2.5-liter 4-cylinder in the Camry.

The results are pretty interesting – the Camry is clearly quicker off the line but the Sonata overtakes it later on. The Korean language means most of us will be unable to understand what is being said. We’re just wondering if the throttle got stuck on the Camry…..(we know, we’re bad…)

The next leap is set to come with the Equus full-size luxury sedan. For now though, Hyundai is turning to it’s mid-size sedan, a crucially important segment for any volume manufacturer.

Mercedes-Benz CLS, is that you? No, it’s the Hyundai Sonata – but that’s what Hyundai wants you to think of when you see the Sonata. There is a clear “inspiration” here from that car, and it’s never a bad thing to be compared with the CLS. The CLS started this whole “4-door coupe” trend that has produced cars like the Panamera, Rapide and maybe even the Estoque from Lamborghini.

Originally the images were leaked out on the internet (some have been floating around for a while) but then Hyundai decided to release sketches along with a press release announcing the company has began taking orders for the Sonata in the car’s home Korean market.

The pictures released appear to be from an advertisement, with the side shot, a view of the front end, rear angle close up and the car’s gauges. For more, images check out the original site (translated from Korean) that they were found on, Bobaedream. Hyundai’s official sketches can be found below.