Pity those successful car manufacturers whose efforts sometimes can undercut their own intentions.
Case in point is Hyundai, who long ago shed its bargain basement persona and has built a reputation as a solid choice when it comes to getting behind the wheel of a value for money ride.
Take their offerings in the compact and midsize categories - the Elantra (compact) and Sonata (midsize) - which from the exterior share plenty of sheet metal DNA that given quick glance as they flash by on the road would provide the average onlooker with a tough guess at identifying which was the bigger and pricier of the two.
At about half the showroom sticker cost of its big brother, the Elantra has all the good looks of the heftier Sonata. And when optioned right, the slightly smaller interior space of the Elantra could be the only detriment for many potential buyers who prefer to keep a good few thousand dollars in their own pockets, but still want a stylish auto.
Honda had a similar situation in past model years when a "dolled" up Civic was a stiff challenger to the venerable Accord.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, for Hyundai that "battle from within" may just get a little more heated as the South Korean builder is rolling out a revised version of the Elantra for 2014.
The biggest change is the 2.0 litre power plant being dropped into Elantra's engine bay which compliments the aggressively tweaked body design that is most noticeable along the belt line crease.
The new engine produces 173 horses and a decent 154 foot pounds of torque - up from the 1.8 litre that put out 148 ponies and delivered 131 pound feet of torque.
That's a pretty sizeable difference when you goose the gas pedal and do the city stop light shuffle.
Estimated zero to 100 km/h times are in the sub 10 second range.
Helping that along is the addition of an electronic throttle control that is akin to the fly-by-wire concept in commercial airliners that replaces a conventional cable linkage in favour of quicker responding electronics.
Hyundai says this more accurately controls air intake and engine torque, improving drivability, response and fuel economy.
But with bigger engine displacement naturally comes higher consumption numbers. Hyundai estimates city-based figures will be 7.2 litres per 100 km, and 6.3 litres on the open road using an automatic transmission. The manual option is marginally better.
All this, and plenty more, in a mid-life update of an already pretty decent compact. It makes you wonder what Hyundai has in store for a freshened up Sonata that will likely have Hynundai fans facing some tough choices.
Prices for the 2014 Elantra were not available, but the 2013 model had a base cost of just under $12,000.
