The Toyota Camry has long been the best-selling car inside the United States, and while that may very well be the case again this year, the popular vehicle has lost substantial ground to the upstart Hyundai Sonata, and according to Bloomberg is looking to separate itself once again.

Coupled with the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan, Toyota has seen sales of the Camry dip 31 percent compared to its best year ever – 2007. Comparatively, the Sonata has experienced a 35 percent jump after a revamp in its design last year.

"Sonata became a very honorable contender in the market,"’ Yoshimi Inaba, Toyota’s North American chairman, told the news source. "We do have good respect for the model, and the sales figures show it’s increasing quite a bit."

Perhaps the biggest reason for the boost in sales has to do with the fact that Hyundai has been making a push to boost fuel economy. The news provider reports that the Sonata gets 35 miles per gallon compared to the Camry's 32.