The Hyundai Sonata has been discontinued in India due to diminishing demand of a luxury sedan having no diesel engine option.
Hyundai introduced the Sonata in India in 2001, which was the fourth generation model worldwide. The premium luxury sedan with its elite design language inspired from Jaguar, gathered lots of appreciation. With the launch of the fifth generation Sonata (Embera), the luxurious charm got subdued due to its simplistic exteriors. It also had a diesel engine but not many buyers were keen on diesel cars that time. Later in 2012, Hyundai launched the sixth generation Sonata with scintillating styling but no diesel engine option, which was a big letdown and due to the poor demand, Hyundai has now discontinued the Sonata.
The Korean carmaker managed to sell only 10 units a month on an average. Hyundai doesn’t find it feasible to continue sales of the Sonata with poor demand and is currently focusing on the lower end of the market for big volumes. The Hyundai Sonata looks quite attractive and rich with the fluidic design philosophy. On the inside too, the luxurious yet upmarket layout catches many eyeballs. It is loaded with equipment including ventilated seats, seat warmers, rain sensor, headlamp washer, etc.
Powering the Hyundai Sonata is a 2.4-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine that churns out 201 PS of power and 250 Nm of torque, mated to a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic with steering mounted paddle shifts. The survival in this segment is quite difficult considering you get luxury German cars by paying a few lakhs over these. We have seen the Honda Accord and Nissan Teana getting discontinued similarly because of the lack of a diesel engine option. Currently the Skoda Superb is the king of this segment, which is due to get updated to its next generation later this year.
Source – Autocarindia.com