2012 Hyundai Azera 2012 . Hyundai

The redesigned 2012 Hyundai Azera will be unveiled in November at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, confirmed Hyundai on Wednesday. The 2012 Hyundai Azera will go on sale early next year.

"We're in the final stages of ride/handling tuning for the 2012 Azera, and it's dialing in nicely," said John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai Motor America on the company's Twitter account.

Later, Hyundai spokesman Miles Johnson told Inside Line in a phone conversation that the redesigned Azera will get a major styling boost for 2012. "It certainly will, including the fluidic design language of the Hyundai Sonata, Elantra and Accent," he said.

No details have been released yet on powertrain or pricing on the 2012 Hyundai Azera. But some media outlets are speculating that the Azera may get a new 3.3-liter direct-injection V6 producing around 300 horsepower. The base 2011 Hyundai Azera is equipped with a 260-hp 3.3-liter V6 linked to a six-speed automatic transmission. The uplevel 2011 Hyundai Azera Limited gets the 3.8-liter V6.

A fuel-economy improvement is likely in the 2012 Azera, since Hyundai has become a crusader for better gas mileage. The EPA says the base 2011 Azera with the 3.3-liter V6 returns 20 mpg in city driving and 28 mpg on the highway. The 2011 Azera with the 3.8-liter V6 returns 19 mpg in city driving and 27 mpg on the highway.

The 2011 Hyundai Azera starts at $26,270, including a $775 destination charge.

The Azera is Hyundai's lowest-volume vehicle in the U.S., according to the company's June mid-year sales report. Azera sales in the first half of this year were down 31 percent from the same period in 2010 to 1,095, the automaker said.