Hyundai Sonata Caught Hiding Main Redesign In First Spy Photographs

Hyundai is probably going getting ready to offer the Sonata a considerable redesign. A 2021 report alleged that firm officers had deemed its design a failure. Gross sales have tumbled because the eight-generation mannequin launched, however a revamped look may invigorate them. New spy photographs have captured the restyled Sonata winter testing and sporting thick cladding and camouflage to cover its refreshed look.

All of the concealments throughout the entrance and rear fascias point out Hyundai has modified lots. The automaker is probably going giving the sedan a brand new face – headlights, grille, and bumper. The automobile’s chrome strips that related the daytime working lights with the greenhouse trim won’t survive the redesign.

Hyundai lined the rear with simply as a lot cladding because the entrance. Parts of the taillights are seen, however it’s unclear if they’re manufacturing items or simply stand-ins. We count on the automaker to reshape the Sonata’s taillights and tweak the rear bumper. The photographs don’t showcase a lot of the inside, however they captured the highest of the sprint. It seems the corporate will give the automobile a dual-screen structure, probably just like the one within the 2024 Kona. 

Whereas Hyundai is probably going giving the Sonata a significant makeover, the underlying platform, powertrain, and know-how ought to stay the identical. We count on the automobile’s present engines will carry over unchanged, together with the Sonata Hybrid; nevertheless, the brand new sprint and screens may add some novel functionalities.

Hyundai began producing the eight-generation Sonata in 2019 for the 2020 mannequin 12 months. Gross sales dipped from 105,118 in 2018 to 87,466 in 2019. They reached 76,997 in 2020, which was an atrocious gross sales 12 months for automakers as a result of pandemic. Gross sales recovered in 2021, spiking to 93,142 earlier than falling to an abysmal 55,131 in 2022. Nevertheless, provide chain points have impacted automobile manufacturing globally.

The Hyundai Sonata has been a preferred mannequin for the model for many years, however sedans of all flavors proceed to undergo. The redesign is perhaps a last-ditch effort to avoid wasting the mannequin, as a Might 2022 report alleged that Hyundai plans to discontinue the Sonata on the finish of its present mannequin technology. The automobile may very well be on sale by way of 2027 or 2028, and a brand new look may assist the mannequin exit on a excessive word.