The Hyundai Elantra's Dealbreaker of a Face Has Been Fixed

The facelifted 2024 Hyundai Avante, which previews the 2024 U.S.-market Elantra.

The Hyundai Elantra is a good compact sedan, albeit not one without its faults. The big one is pretty obvious to anyone who’s ever encountered the car in traffic: that gaping, vexing maw that attempts to set a record for how many incongruous shapes can be smushed together in the smallest number of square inches. It’s the worst on the Elantra N, because of that unwritten rule that all fast versions of cars have to be the most annoying. Fortunately, relief for our eyes appears to be on the horizon. Hyundai has just unveiled a facelift for South Korea’s version of the sedan, which is called the Avante.

The Avante is getting a new mug for the 2024 model year, and it likely previews similar treatment waiting in the wings for our Elantra. We reached out to Hyundai North America PR to confirm that, who told us that “specifics on the U.S. model will be coming later.” Until then, let’s study the Elantra of the not-too-distant future.

Read more

• These Are Your Guilty Pleasure Cars

• The 15 Most Successful Formula 1 Cars of All Time

• These Cars Should Never Have Been Killed Off

Compared to the outgoing model seen above, the facelifted grille is flatter with a body color bar bisecting the upper and lower portions for a wider, leaner look. A translated press release confirms “wider” was indeed Hyundai’s aim, and though the result isn’t perfect to my eye, it’s certainly an improvement that leaves the Elantra looking a little more upscale, almost Volkswagen-esque. There’s no telling what the redesign will portend for the N version just yet, but reducing the expanse of matte black that blankets the bumper would be a good start.