Hyundai is a name that gave Maruti a run for its money since it’s come to India. The South Korean automobile giant entered the Indian market in 1996. Hyundai launched its first hatchback Santro in 1998 which became a rage. Since then Hyundai has launched several cars in all possible segments fit for the Indian consumer. Most of them are huge successes and take up a huge market share which is almost unbeatable. Here are a few cars that were launched but are forgotten now.
Hyundai Getz
Hyundai launched Getz in 2005 and it became one of the most loved cars by the early drivers. The reason apart from the size and design is the fact that it came with a 1.5-litre turbocharged CRDI diesel engine which could churn 110 Bhp of peak torque and 235 Nm. Even though Hyundai never advertised it, Getz diesel was the most powerful diesel hatchback at the time. The sales went down drastically post the launch of Swift.
Also read: Forgotten Hyundai cars & SUVs: From Terracan to Sonata Gold
Hyundai Accent Viva
Hyundai Accent is relevant on metropolitan roads even now. To capture even more share of the market, they launched a notch down version of the Accent called the Accent Viva. The Accent Viva came with a 1.5-litre diesel engine and was made affordable for the masses.
Hyundai Elantra fourth-generation
Hyundai Elantra has had a lot of facelifts since it was first launched in the Indian market. However, the fourth generation was launched way back in 2004. Currently, the sixth generation is in production and available. The rest of them have been discontinued. Hyundai had high hopes for the fourth-generation Elantra, especially because of the toothy grille, but it didn’t live up to expectations.
Hyundai Sonata Gold
Sonata was a path breaker in the luxury segment and became the most expensive sedan launched by Hyundai. The headlamps of the Sonata Gold were also inspired by the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Even though Hyundai spent massively on the marketing by bringing in Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador, it didn’t do as well as expected. Also, it was competing with the likes of Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.
Hyundai Sonata Embera
Hyundai tried to fill in for the failure of Sonata and used the strategy to launch an even more luxurious sedan with a bigger price tag to tap into the niche customer segment. The Embera performed worse than the Sonata and the customers didn’t even consider it as an option. Even though the features and design were extremely modern and attractive, the price tag pushed the customers away.
Hyundai Sonata Fluidic
The Sonata Fluidic became Hyundai’s sixth attempt and was launched in 2012. However, it came with the same problem of a hefty price tag which again pushed the target customers away. In 2012, it came with a whopping price tag of INR 18 Lakhs. The design was made fluidic owing to its name, however, that wasn’t enough to succeed and only a few units were sold over the years.
Hyundai Tucson first-generation
The name Tucson seems to be the latest, however, Hyundai launched the first generation back in 2005. The second generation was launched 11 years later in 2016. In 2005, the Indian market was not ready for a luxury SUV. That was the time when Indians would view SUVs as personal vehicles. The Tuscon appeared to be bulky and also carried a hefty price which further contributed to its downfall.
Hyundai Terracan
Terracan was launched by Hyundai to enter the market segment of the Endeavour and Fortuner, however, it failed to even come close to it. The Terracan was loaded with features like the AWD system and was built on a ladder-frame chassis. It was a full-size SUV and came with a powerful 2.9-litre diesel engine which produced 148 Bhp of power and a peak torque of 343 Nm.
Hyundai Santa Fe 2nd-generation
Hyundai launched the 2ng gen Santa Fe as CBU. At a time when Hyundai was soaring the sales charts with Santro, the customer base didn’t really consider Hyundai when it came to SUVs. Most of the people opted for the Toyota Fortuner. Also, Santa Fe offered the same features as the Fortuner but was extremely overpriced.
Hyundai Santa Fe 3rd Generation
Owing to the failure of the 2nd Generation, Hyundai launched the 3rd generation. The third generation was styled in a much modern way and was extremely attractive owing to Hyundai’s Fluidic design strategy. Even though the third generation did better than its predecessor, the SUV still couldn’t match the market share of the Fortuner.
Also read: Citroen”s 3 new cars for India DETAILED
