500,000th Hyundai Elantra sold in Canada +VIDEO

• Initially launched in 1991, the Elantra has risen to become Canada's second-best selling passenger car since 2013

• Milestone comes in the midst of the all-new 6th generation 2017 Elantra launch

TORONTO - March 22, 2016: Hot on the heels of the February launch of the all-new 2017 Elantra compact sedan, Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. announced it has reached a sales milestone with the Elantra nameplate, achieving 500,000 cumulative sales since June, 1991. The milestone sale, a 2017 Elantra GL, was delivered to a customer in Montreal, Quebec.

With the arrival of the 2017 model, six generations of Elantra models have been proudly displayed in Hyundai dealership showrooms coast-to-coast. For company executives, the all-new Elantra has some big shoes to fill.

"The fifth generation Elantra won both North American and Canadian Car of the Year awards in 2012 and has been Canada's second-best selling passenger car since 2013, so we have high expectations for this all-new vehicle," said Don Romano, President and CEO for Hyundai Auto Canada. "The Elantra, in all of its versions, is our most successful nameplate, by far. It's the first Hyundai vehicle to reach 500,000 sales and is an important player in the country's compact car market."

The Elantra epitomizes Hyundai's approach to bringing the latest features and technology and making them accessible to buyers. The 2011 Elantra, for example, was the first compact car to offer heated rear seats. For the 2017 model, Hyundai elevated the benchmark, becoming the first to make heated front seats standard in the compact segment. The 2017 model also offers a host of advanced safety systems, including Autonomous Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Lane Keep Assist, and adaptive cruise control, among others.

While features and equipment are sometimes the most obvious areas where Hyundai works to improve access to technology, the story behind the frame of the 2017 Elantra is perhaps less well-known. To wit: Hyundai is the only major global automaker that makes its own steel. With Hyundai Steel metallurgists and Hyundai vehicle engineers working side-by-side, the company developed its own Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) to achieve its vehicle performance objectives rather than adapt or compromise priorities to the existing steel available on the market.

No less than 53% of the SuperStructure frame in the all-new 2017 Elantra is AHSS, which delivers a number of benefits over regular steel. Chief among those is rigidity without excess weight. A rigid frame contributes to a sporty, responsive ride, a refined, quiet cabin environment, and improved collision energy management for crash safety.