The mid-size sedan is becoming a punching bag in the automotive world. The domestic mid-size sedan market recorded 70,623 units sold as of October this year, a dramatic 34% decline from last year’s 107,128 units.

The Hyundai Sonata sold 40,053 units this year (including 13,223 taxis), representing a 22.8% drop from last year’s 51,894 units. Excluding taxi models, the pure sales of the Sonata DN8 are merely around 27,000 units.

The Sonata finds itself trapped between the Grandeur, which sold 54,539 units, and the Avante, which totaled 44,807 units. Although there are plans to release a mid-cycle update for the Sonata in the first half of next year, rumors of its discontinuation persist due to poor sales. Hyundai has refuted these rumors, stating, “Nothing has been decided yet.”

Hyundai is not alone in facing the slump in mid-size sedan sales. Kia’s K5 has dropped to 25,723 units sold, half of last year’s figure of 50,424 units. Chevrolet’s Malibu has also seen sales decline to 1,389 units, a 45% fall from last year’s 2,558 units.

The demand for spacious and versatile SUVs has increased, leading to an overall decline in sedan sales across the market.

As of October this year, SUV sales for Hyundai reached 176,803 units, an increase of 3.2% compared to the previous year’s 171,400 units, while Kia sales grew to 235,072 units from 214,535 units, a rise of 9.6%. Meanwhile, sedan sales underwent significant decreases. Hyundai sold 145,730 units, down 21% from last year’s 185,426 units, and Kia’s sales fell 16.5% to 146,187 units from 175,074 units.

The leadership in overall car sales has shifted from sedans to SUVs, a situation that has been developing for some time now.

The decline in mid-size sedan sales can also be attributed to pricing. For instance, the highest trim of the Sonata, the N-Line Design Edition, costs 35 million KRW, which is more expensive than the Grandeur Premium at 33.92 million KRW.

With competition from SUVs and overlapping price points with full-size sedans, the mid-size sedan market faces an overall crisis.

Isang-Jin daedusj@autodiary.kr