Hyundai pulls the plug on Sonata

Over the years the only luxury model in Hyundai’s India portfolio was the Sonata. At first the Sonata managed to attract quite a few customers thank to its charming looks, giving the accord a run for its money.  In 2005 Hyundai launched the Sonata Embera which came with a diesel engine, however even this model couldn’t charm customers, as its understated looks couldn’t keep with the luxury and premium appeal of rivals like the Toyota Camry and the Skoda Superb.

Hyundai still pushed its luck and launched an all new Sonata with the company’s fluidic design language in 2012; this model was quite a stunner, yet it failed to draw customers who now fancied the attitude and status quo that came with German cars. It was clear Hyundai’s brand value in the premium sedan segment wasn’t appealing enough for customers. In the last six months Hyundai has barely managed to sell ten Sonatas a month, and with such plummeting sales continuing retail for this model wasn’t feasible, hence Hyundai decided to pull the plug on the Sonata after around 13 years in the India market.

This doesn’t mean Hyundai has given up on the luxury segment, it is studying the feasibility of the Azera and the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid for the India market and if all works out well, we may see these cars rolling on our streets in the near future.

Source: Autocar India

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