Hyundai Sonata sedan to live on – for now

An updated Hyundai Sonata is in development, quelling reports that plans for a facelift for the current model were scrapped. But will there be another generation after this one leaves showrooms?

The slow-selling Hyundai Sonata sedan has been granted a stay of execution, as photos emerge of an updated model testing overseas – but its future beyond the current-generation car remains under a cloud.

Reports out of South Korea over the last 12 months have cast doubt on the Sonata’s future, amid slowing sales in its home market attributed to the current-generation car’s sharper, more distinctive styling that reportedly hasn’t resonated with buyers.

Different sources have claimed Hyundai would skip a mid-life facelift for the current model (known as the ‘DN8’) to focus on a brand-new model – or vice versa, that a facelift would be launched, but plans for a next-generation model had been shelved.

Photos have now emerged out of South Korea (via Autospy and Cochespias) of a facelifted Sonata testing – shown here in N Line trim, the sole model available in Australia – with restyled bumpers, lights and wheels, plus new metallic inserts on the front wheel arches.

While the front and rear ends appear to be new, the car’s proportions and side window profiles are the same – indicating this is a heavy facelift of the current Sonata, rather than an all-new body over a carry-over (or new) chassis.

However, although a facelift is on the way – expected next year – it’s still unclear if a next-generation Sonata will be developed, after the upcoming facelift runs its course and departs showrooms in a few years’ time.

Hyundai vehicles are typically sold for approximately six years before they are replaced, with mid-life facelifts halfway through their model cycles.

Given the updated version of today’s Sonata is expected sometime next year – four years after its overseas launch – the current model may enjoy a longer life in showrooms than other Hyundai cars, possibly on sale until 2027 (four years after the facelift, or eight years in total).

Australian deliveries of the pre-facelift Sonata only began in mid 2021, after a series of delays – and that the N Line only went into production for overseas markets towards the end of 2020.

Local launch timing for the updated model is yet to be confirmed, however based on the timing of these photos, the vehicle may be in Australian showrooms before the end of 2023.

The spy images show one of the current Sonata’s signature design cues has been ditched for the updated model: LED daytime-running light strips that across the bonnet, to connect the headlights with the chrome side-window surrounds.

Although hard to make a definitive conclusion, the updated Sonata appears to adopt a split headlight design, with daytime-running lights and indicators placed up high, and the main headlight beams below.

Hyundai is likely hoping the fresh look will give Sonata sales in South Korea, where the mid-size sedan has fallen from second place on the sales charts in 2019, to sixth in 2020, and towards the bottom of the Top 20 last year.

The current Hyundai Sonata N Line.

The carmaker has reported 26,830 current-generation ‘DN8’ Sonatas as sold in South Korea over the first 10 months of 2022 – or 40,000 (rounded) with the previous-generation ‘LF’ model included, which remains on sale in its home market as a taxi.

Over the same period last year, about 37,000 ‘DN8’ Sonatas were reported as sold in South Korea, or just under 52,000 Sonatas in total with the LF-series taxis included.

Across the same period in 2017, Sonata sales in the car’s home market totalled 68,600 – down from 85,300 in 2012 and 92,500 in 2007 (all figures rounded).

In Australia, 476 Sonatas have been reported as sold over the first 10 months of 2022 – down from 790 in 2017, 1475 in 2016, and 3157 in 2012 (when it was marketed as the i45).

The current Hyundai Sonata N Line.

It’s unclear if there will be any radical changes inside the cabin of the updated Sonata.

Features available on other Hyundai and Kia cars – but not offered on today’s Sonata – include an augmented-reality head-up display, remote smart parking technology, and an enlarged 12.3-inch infotainment screen (vs 10.25 inches in today’s model).

Given Hyundai’s increased focus on electric cars, performance specifications are unlikely to change from the current Sonata N Line’s 213kW/422Nm 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and front-wheel drive.

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