The Hyundai Accent hatchback will be killed off in Canada after the 2020 model year, the automaker announced.
In a statement, the Korean company said it will no longer offer the Accent as its product portfolio “continues to grow at an unprecedented rate…with even more to come.” The announcement comes as a surprise, as the subcompact hatchback was redesigned in September 2017. It is not common for a carmaker to retire a nameplate only three years after a redesign.
Unlike the United States, where the Accent is only available as a four-door sedan, Canada gets the Accent exclusively as a five-door hatchback, following the sedan’s demise in 2019. In the U.S., however, the Accent hatchback was axed in 2018 as consumers were increasingly flocking to crossovers.
Watch Also: CR Finds 2018 Hyundai Accent Competent, A Good Buy In Lower Trims
Hyundai Canada said the Accent 5 Door has been particularly successful in the province of Québec, where the brand continues to hold its strongest market share in the country. Apparently, that was not enough to keep the model on sale.
A company spokesman told AutoNews Canada that the announcement only applies to Canada as he couldn’t speak for the Accent’s fate in other markets. Dropping the Accent is a big decision for Hyundai Canada, as the nameplate sold 462,494 units in the country through June 2020 since it was first introduced to market in September 1994.
The Accent retained the No. 1 spot in the subcompact car segment in Canada for 10 consecutive years, from 2009 to 2017. However, Hyundai Accent sales fell 54 percent from 2017, the year before the Kona crossover launched, through 2019. At the same time, Hyundai Kona sales rose 78 percent to 25,817 units in 2019.
