Hyundai Motor Group to trim Sonata, K5, Stinger from U.S. car roster

Hyundai Motor Group is set to retire the Sonata midsize sedan, closing more than a three-decade run in the U.S., according to multiple sources.

The end of the Hyundai Sonata was first reported by the Chosun Ilbo, a Korean publication, which said Hyundai is not developing a next-generation model.

"It's likely the sedan will get one more refresh in 2025 but will not live past 2027 or 2028," said Jesse Toprak, chief economist for Autonomy.

The eighth-generation Sonata launched in the 2020 model year with significant styling changes. An N Line model was added for 2021.

Hyundai maintains such reports are speculation. "Sonata remains and will continue to be an important part of Hyundai's product lineup," a brand spokesperson said in a statement.

The Sonata has been a key global model for Hyundai, but the auto giant is focused on electrification. The group is targeting annual sales of more than 3 million electric vehicles globally by 2030.

The Asan plant in South Korea where the Sonata is produced has stopped building it in favor of the Ioniq 6 midsize electric sedan. Hyundai also has said its assembly plant in Montgomery, Ala., where the Sonata is built stateside, will undergo upgrades for electrification.

"Under Executive Chairman Euisun Chung, there seems to be a willingness to do away with sentimentally iconic nameplates as the automaker forges ahead toward the future," said Ed Kim, president and chief analyst at AutoPacific.

Changing consumer tastes and a bigger emphasis on EVs has resulted in slumping demand for midsize cars at Hyundai and across the industry.

"When we look at the past performance of Sonata, they used to sell over a million easily, but last year's total was 440,000," Toprak said.

Annual U.S. sales of the Sonata last topped 200,000 in 2015 (213,303) and volume has steadily dropped to below 100,000 in recent years.

"Its popularity has plummeted in its primary markets of North America and South Korea at the hands of crossover SUVs," Kim said. "It has increasingly become a fleet car in South Korea, popular with taxi operators, but with Hyundai Motor Group about to launch the all-electric Kia Niro Plus taxi, the Sonata's relevance is further threatened."

Kia's midsize sedan, the K5, formerly the Optima, shares the same platform with the Sonata and will likely be phased out as well.

"I will be shocked if K5 doesn't follow the same fate as Sonata," Toprak said. "It is very likely you're going to see the same trajectory of slow production declines over the next three to five years for the K5 until it is completely replaced by an EV."

The midsize-sedan market, once one of the U.S. auto industry's biggest, continues to shrink, falling 14 percent to below 1 million vehicles (926,112) last year. Volume dropped another 19 percent in the first quarter.

Another Kia sedan, the rear-wheel-drive Stinger, will likely be cut in the coming months. According to a source close to the subject, Kia will stop building the Stinger after this quarter. The forthcoming Kia EV6 GT will fill the void in the lineup, said the source.

The Stinger was initially conceived as a brand-building exercise for Kia. "[The Stinger] demonstrated that Kia could do a bona fide rear-wheel-drive performance car, and even though it wasn't a volume seller, it helped elevate the Kia brand considerably," Kim said. "Even if it ends up as a one-generation vehicle, it will still have done its intended job."

While the Stinger was a niche model for Kia, it has remained popular: U.S. sales rose 10 percent to 4,002 through April.

"Stinger remains an important part of Kia's award-winning lineup of vehicles and a powerful piece of our overall brand transformation," a Kia spokesperson said.

The Sonata, K5 and Stinger would join a growing list of discontinued sedans.

The Ford Fusion, Mazda6, Volkswagen Passat and Buick Regal have all exited the U.S. market. Large cars also are becoming scarcer, with Hyundai's Azera, the Kia Cadenza, Ford Taurus and Chevrolet Impala all dropped. Toyota's Avalon will be canceled after the 2022 model year.