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The sound coming from every automaker is the discontinuing of building cars in exchange for building more, and more SUVs, which are more profitable and trendy enough to divert normal car-buyers to the larger utility-based family vehicles.

Hyundai, however, sees it differently, and while the South Korean company is responsible for some of the most impressive and technically-advanced SUVs, it has said repeatedly that it is not abandoning cars.

The best evidence is Hyundai’s flashy pair of family sedans, the midsize Sonata — which led the way when Hyundai vaulted into major car-building mainstream in 2011 — and the compact Elantra, which has come right along with the Sonata and might now be Hyundai’s most sought car.

The Sonata is very stylish, and seems to shadow vehicles like Honda’s Accord to the upper reaches of success, but the Elantra has grown, also, and is now large enough to carry a family of four, or five, to the next generation.

The new Elantra has an assortment of models that hav captured my attention. You can get it with a gasoline engine, or as a hybrid, and while it undoubtedly is also headed for an electric future, the current Elantra Limited — like the model I test drove for a week — it a fantastic choice for consumers who aren’t quite ready to make the plunge to electric, or even hybrid cars.

For example, the car, which came in Melange Gray, was front-wheel drive, and it was powered by Hyundai’s home-built 2.0-liter 4-cylinder, with “intelligent” variable transmission. Those might be surprises, because I’m a major booster of Hyundai’s 1.6-liter turbo engine for its quickness and great performace, and the in-house built transmissions, either the 8-speed or the dual-clutch automatic, are my favorites.

But to my surprise, the Elantra’s 2.0-liter 4-cyinder is non-turbocharged, but had strong performance in normally aspirated form, and the variable transmission is greatly enhanced because the car had shift paddles on the steering wheel to allow you to shift for yourself and impersonate a true automatic.

But along with the strong acceleration and performance to make the new and stiff chassis perform well, when I filled the gas tank I was surprised that the fuel economy, which the EPA estimates at 30 in city driving and 40 on the highway, delivered 47.2 miles per gallon in mostly city driving on the hillsides of Duluth as my best, and was still more than 42 mpg overall.

We can lean toward hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric cars these days, but it’s still reassuring to know that you can get a good looking, racy coupe-shaped compact sedan that can get up to hybrid-style fuel economy.

The interior is also a cut above what I expected. Opening the door, I was greeted by a bright, white bucket seat, with matching white leather trim on the console and dashboard. The car’s handling, in Limited form, came with 17-inch wheels and all-season tires, and inside the feature include a power sunroof, and a very impressive Bose Premium audio system. In front of the driver, there is a 10.25-inch instrument panel, and another 10.25-inch panel is at the top of the dashboard on the center stack, with so many features and selections for climate control, seat heaters, steering wheel heater, regular heat and air, and the audio are all well-arranged — although it would help if Hyundai would send along a technician to adjust the  needlessly complex audio settings.

The rear seats back folds down to expand the under-hatch storage space, and everything together comes at a sticker price of $27,655 as equipped, with the Limited upgrades. The standard Hyundai array of safety gadgets is also build in, including smart-cruise, lane-following, lane-keeping, blind-sport detection, rear cross-traffic warning and avoidance, and parking distance alert, warning and accident avoidance. A lot of other companies have installed similar devices, and we’re all better off for it all, but Hyundai has been at the forefront of some of those electronic goodies, and they have only gotten better with refinement.

I still love the Sonata, but if you’re looking for one, don’t go past the Elantra without trying it out. You might find the size and features fit you perfectly, and the price is certainly right.