William Maley

Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com

February 21, 2012

The Hyundai Elantra has been seeing its sales go up and up; 40% to be exact. But that isn't the only thing to go up.

USA Today asked Edmunds.com to analyze transaction prices of compact cars. Their analysis brought forth a surprise. The average transaction price for Elantra in 2011 was $19,711. That's about $1,500 more than for a Toyota Corolla and $300 above a Honda Civic.

The same holds true for the mid-size Sonata; average transaction price in 2011 was $23,259. That's about $860 below the Honda Accord and $500 below the Toyota Camry. The previous Sonata was $2,000 below the average price of the Accord and Camry.

So what does this tell us? Hyundai is now able to sell vehicles based on merit, content and design, not being the cheaper alternative to other brands.

With news like this, its not a big surprise that Hyundai is raising the prices on certain vehicles. Case in point, the new Azera costs $6,000 more than the outgoing model.

Source: USA Today

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This makes sense considering that with Quality you get higher income buyers who wants more in a auto, so the builders and dealers will put more on the cars. Plus with all the new safety features this can truly jack up the price of the auto's.

Will be interesting to see who becomes the new Low Price Leader?

Kia is now the low price leader. This is basically what Plymouth used to be compared with Chrysler from the 1950s until 2000.

Perhaps younger buyers are also more willing to accept Hyundai as an established brand. Also the bold design also skews towards the youth market.