By Jhoo Dong-chan
Hyundai Motor is considering not exporting the all-new Grandeur mid-size sedan, called the Azera, to the U.S. market due to a weak performance in the world’s No. 2 automotive market, an official said Sunday.
The country’s largest automaker had been selling the brand there with the introduction of the Grandeur XG in 2000. If Hyundai Motor decides not to sell the sixth-generation Grandeur in the U.S, this would mark the model’s market exit for the first time in 16 years.
“Hyundai Motor has decided to focus on the domestic auto market with the 2017 Grandeur for a while next year,” a Hyundai official said.
“The Grandeur is still considered the automaker’s flagship sedan here, but its price range, which is a bit higher than the popular Sonata sedan, may be considered a premium sedan in the U.S. where Hyundai Motor’s luxury Genesis brand is already making inroads.”
Industry insiders also say that the Grandeur’s ambiguous market position in the Hyundai Motor lineup is one of the reasons for its weak market performance.
Hyundai Motor introduced a new model of its luxury division brand Genesis in November last year, which has dominated Korea’s luxury car market with a 46 percent share during the first three quarters of this year.
The Genesis has also been well accepted in the U.S. market ― it was named one of three finalists for the North American Car of the Year with its popular EQ900, known as the G90 in the U.S.
“The Grandeur is still widely loved in Korea but that is not the case in the U.S. The all-new Grandeur sedan’s position could overlap between the Genesis and the Sonata in the U.S.,” the insider said.
“I believe Hyundai Motor needs to be cautious introducing the all-new Grandeur in the U.S. market because cannibalization could take place in its portfolio there.”
The Grandeur is not cruising well in the U.S. market as just 4,134 of its latest fifth-generation model had been sold this year by the end of September, which means that its monthly sales are only around 400.
In the meantime, the sales of the Genesis G80 and the Sonata amounted to 21,635 and 170,243, respectively. Plus, the Genesis is expected to introduce another mid-size luxury sedan, the G70, later next year.
A Hyundai Motor official said, however, that it will export the all-new Grandeur sedan to other regions where the model is still competitive and popular, such as the Middle East.