Has Sonata outstayed buyers welcome?

By Kim Tae-gyu

Hyundai Motor, Korea’s foremost automaker, is emotional about the Sonata, its oldest brand under production, which launched back in 1985 and has chalked up cumulative sales of 5 million over the past quarter century.

Since its debut, a total of six sequels have been released both at home and abroad with major facelifts as well as quality upgrades. The seventh-generation YF Sonata was an instant hit upon its release last September.

After getting off to a solid start, however, sales of the mid-size sedan are showing clear signs of tailing off. The model surrendered the mantle of the country’s best-selling car to the K5 of Kia Motors in June for the first time.

Last month, the Kia Morning even nudged past the YF Sonata putting it in the third spot with a mere 8,469 sales, which marked its worst-ever monthly performance.

In this climate, some observers contend that Hyundai had better think of putting the Sonata, which is known as the i45 in some export markets, to rest for a few years or switch focus to other brands.

``The Sonata has generated the market for mid-sized sedans here and boosted the presence of Hyundai Motor across the world. It is understandable for Hyundai to continue to stick to the best-selling brand,’’ Professor Kim Pil-soo at Daelim College said.

``However, I sense that many people are becoming tired of the old Sonata brand. It is time for Hyundai to mull over the possibility of shifting its overly-high focus on the Sonata to other promising models.’’

Kim said that a temporary withdrawal of the brand is a viable option although it might be dangerous.

``As you know, there are lots of devoted fans of the Sonata. If the title exits from the market for a couple of years and comes back with whole new features, motorists may go into a frenzy,’’ Kim said.

``Yet, it is a detrimental strategy to adopt. What if people just forget about the Sonata? It takes a huge amount of money and energy to establish a brand worldwide and this appears to be giving Hyundai a headache.’’

When contacted, Hyundai said that the Seoul-based outfit will by no means give up on the Sonata brand.

``The Sonata is to us what the Camry is to Toyota, what the Accord is to Honda. We have no plan to put our flagship brand to rest,’’ a Hyundai Motor representative said. ``Plus, it fares really well in the U.S. market, even though its sales are down in the local scene.’’

Daishin Securities researcher Kim Byung-kuk argued that Hyundai needs to come up with a dual-track approach to the Sonata brand.

``In the Korean market, people may be too accustomed to the Sonata. Hyundai may have to do something here but things are different offshore where the Sonata has yet to make its presence felt in a full-fledged way,’’ Kim said.

``It does not make sense for Hyundai to pull the Sonata brand in foreign markets such as the United States, the major target of the YF Sonata.’’

Mirae Asset Securities analyst Lee Sok-je concurs.

``The YF Sonata was penalized in the local market because it was designed to meet requirements of Western drivers. It may have something to do with the decreasing sales of the Sonata here,’’ Lee said.

``In other words, the YF Sonata is customized to U.S. clients. Accordingly, its main target should be America. Hyundai is required to strengthen the awareness of the Sonata there instead of reducing it.’’