It looks like the Hyundai Motor Group is having a spring clearance and all sedans must go.
Following reports that the Hyundai Sonata is living on borrowed time, Automotive News is suggesting the Kia K5 will meet a similar fate.
While nothing is official, an analyst who talked to the publication believes the Sonata will be given one more facelift before getting axed in 2027 or 2028. However, Hyundai is downplaying rumors of the car’s demise as they finally responded to our original request for comment by stating the “Sonata remains and will continue to be an important part of Hyundai’s product lineup. Any rumors on its future are pure speculation.”
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That’s not exactly a denial and it would be surprising if the automaker confirmed the model was being killed five or six years before its eventual demise. However, Hyundai is focused on electrification and the company has already confirmed the upcoming Ioniq 6 will be roughly the same size as the Sonata so it could potentially serve as its replacement.
We’ll likely have to wait a few years before finding out the fate of the Sonata and K5, but it appears the grim reaper is finally set to claim the Kia Stinger. The model’s death has been widely rumored, but an insider told Automotive News that production will end after this quarter. That being said, a spokesperson told the publication the “Stinger remains an important part of Kia’s award-winning lineup of vehicles and a powerful piece of our overall brand transformation.”
Looking at the sales chart isn’t too enlightening as the K5 launched in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and only has one full year of sales under its belt. That being said, the company sold 92,326 units in the United States last year and moved 23,376 units through the first four months of 2022.
Those numbers aren’t terrible as the Optima generated 96,623 sales in 2019 and 101,603 sales in 2018. However, all of those numbers are a significant decline from the 150,000 units that were sold annually between 2012 and 2015.
The Stinger, on the other hand, is a premium product with more modest volumes. Sales peaked shortly after launch, in 2018, when the company sold 16,806 units in America. They’ve been hovering around 13,000 units since then and the company has already moved 4,002 units in the first four months of the year.
