The discontinued Sonata taxi is making a comeback.
Hyundai announced that it will import Sonata taxis from its Beijing factory. The Sonata taxi has consistently been a popular model among individual taxi owners and corporate taxi operators. The resurrected Sonata taxi model is based on the DN8 partial modification model and will be introduced from China.
This year, the Sonata model sold as a taxi reached 9,009 units, accounting for 26.1% of total Sonata sales, which amounted to 34,476 units. The Sonata taxi is an indispensable model for Hyundai to dominate the taxi market.
However, Hyundai discontinued the Sonata taxi in June. Following the discontinuation of the Sonata taxi model, the only remaining dedicated taxi model is the Grandeur. According to Kaizuyu, the Grandeur taxi has recorded 5,560 sales as of November this year, accounting for just 5.3% of the total sales of 104,637 units this year, which is a minor share in the taxi market.
While the Grandeur has been struggling alone in the taxi market, its starting price of 35.8 million won makes it difficult to capture the hearts of individual taxi owners and corporate taxi operators running large fleets. In the meantime, the spacious cargo area and second-row seating of the Sportage LPG have attracted the attention of taxi operators, leading to a sales figure of 2,112 units and gradually increasing its market share.
In light of the forecasted decline in Grandeur taxi sales and the rise in Sportage sales, Hyundai decided to introduce the Sonata taxi model produced in China. Market interest is focused on how taxi operators will respond to the returning Sonata taxi.
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr