Hyundai News:Hyundai Plans More Crossovers, Killing Off Azera

[William Maley]

Like it or not, people are buying up crossovers and certain automakers are having problems to keep them in stock. Hyundai is one of those due to production constraints at their various factories. Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski said the compact Tucson would be outselling the Elantra - the automaker's best seller - if it weren't for constraints. But Autoblog has learned about a new plan that Hyundai will be enacting to boost production, along with bringing more crossovers to market.

 

The first of the plan involves adding production of the Santa Fe Sport to the Montgomery, AL plant. Hyundai has brought in the tooling and soon will be built alongside the Elantra and Sonata. Hyundai says this will add about 50,000 units to the market. (Currently, the Santa Fe Sport is being built at the maxed-out West Point, GA plant). Hyundai will also add about 50,000 extra units to Tucson production.

 

With the increases in production for certain models, that means something has to be sacrificed. For Hyundai, that will be the Azera full-size sedan. The model has never been a big seller for the brand and having it go away will not only open up space in the showroom for more crossover, it gives a clear separation between Hyundai and Genesis.

 

Part two will see Hyundai and sister brand, Genesis introduce more crossovers. Hyundai is working on a new subcompact crossover to play catch-up in what is becoming a lucrative market. Genesis meanwhile is working on their own set of crossovers which are expected to come out a few years from now. This is due to Genesis using unique platforms from what Hyundai uses,

 

Source: Autoblog

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[smk4565]

The Azera isn't even all that big, it is only about 3 inches longer than a Sonata.  Size creep of the mid-size segment will kill off all these full size sedans, along with less people wanting full size sedans.  So Azera bites the dust, rumors are out there the the Taurus and Impala could be in their last generation.  I think a lot of brands will have a B, C, D segment cars (Accent, Elantra and Sonata in this case) and at least 4-5 crossovers.  

 

Hyundai could have an Accent based crossover, just as Honda has HR-V and Ford is planning a crossover below Escape.  Then Tuscon, Santa Fe Sport, Santa Fe and they could make a bigger crossover if they wanted to have 5 total, before you even get to Genesis brand.   Sadly I think a lot of brands will have more crossovers that sedan and coupes combined in their line up.

[regfootball]

Azera is alright but its lost in the mix.  The newest Sonata is a huge dud.

 

Wait a couple more years and the Azera will be a nice used car buy.

[smk4565]

The Azera is probably a cheap used car buy already.

[daves87rs]

The Azera is probably a cheap used car buy already.

 

 

Yep......

[Drew Dowdell]

They're probably moving the azera to Genesis to compete with the ES.

[frogger]

Latest Gen didn't even make it to Canada where full size are fae less popular than minivans.

[smk4565]

They're probably moving the azera to Genesis to compete with the ES.

Not even worth it.  I was watching Autoline After Hours last week and a couple Hyundai people were on.  John McElroy brought up that crossovers and trucks could become 70% of the market by 2020 and the Hyundai guys seemed to agree.   Azera doesn't get that many sales, they are better of building another crossover.   The sheeple want crossovers.   Even for the Genesis brand they are making a small RWD sedan, they need to get 3 crossovers in there, so better to focus on that than the slow selling Azera.  I actually sort of like the Azera, I don't think it is a bad car, it is just a sort of car people don't want anymore.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Drew Dowdell
Fixed the double posting

[regfootball]

The Azera is probably a cheap used car buy already.

Not so much in these parts, its scarcity and the market here keeps it up pretty high.

 

I've noticed the market being flooded just within the last few months with a lot of 2013's.  Probably lease returns from about the time there were signs of life and loosened up credit in the car market back then.