Rumormill: Hyundai Sonata and Kia K5 to Get the Axe

Automotive News is reporting that internal sources have indicated that Hyundai will not develop a new generation of the Sonata once the current model run has complete. Similar reports regarding the fate of the Kia K5, the replacement for the Kia Optima, seem to confirm this as both vehicle share a common platform.   The current Sonata went on sale in 2019 as a 2020 model while the K5 started production in 2019 in overseas markets and went on sale in the U.S. as a 2021 model.   Sales of both sedans has dropped dramatically with the Sonata reaching a peak of around 230,000 U.S, sales in 2012 and the K5/Optima reaching almost 160,000 U.S. sales in 2015. Sales were around 93,000 of each model in 2021, rebounding slightly after the 2020 pandemic.  Meanwhile, in its home market the Sonata has fallen from the best selling vehicle to the sixth. 

Both Hyundai and Kia have issued denials of the impending cancelation stating that both vehicles remain important parts of their respective lineups.  Hyundai and Kia are said to be preparing a mild facelift for 2025, however it remains to be seen if the Sonata and K5 make it that far.

Hyundai and Kia are busy making room to build more EVs at their plants.  Kia, for their part, is building a $5.5 billion EV and battery plant in Georgia starting in 2023 that is expected to have the capacity to produce 300,000 units a year.