Hyundai's facelifted Sonata has been launched in Malaysia by official dealer Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors, two-and-a-half years after the YF Sonata was originally introduced there.

It's not a major revamp, but the facelifted Sonata has enough new bits to distinguish it from the original YF - there's a new, simpler grille in front, with built-in LED positioning lamps and fog lamps for the 2.4L Executive model, which also gets HID headlamps.

At the back, the refresh brings wrap-around LED rear lights in the form of a light bar, as opposed to a row of individual LEDs.

The LED repeaters on the wing mirrors are now slimmer and sleeker, and there are new design 17- and 18-inch wheels, the latter reserved for the 2.4L Exec. The bigger engined variant also gets six airbags, audio visual navigation and automatic dual-zone air con.

No change under the hood of the 2.4L, but the 2.0 model gets an engine swap from Theta II to Nu. The Nu is a new engine family that debuted along with the current Hyundai Elantra MD, and this 2.0 Nu is a longer stroke version of the 1.8 litre Dual CVVT unit from the Elantra. It makes 166 PS and 201 Nm in MPI form.

The Sonata Facelift has also popped up on a local auto classifieds site. The ad quotes RM 145,888 (US$ 47,800) for the 2.0 Executive variant, which is not too different from the pre-facelift sticker price. The official press release with full specs and pricing is yet to be released.