10 Hyundai Cars That Have Been Forgotten In India

by Harish Kumar | 28/10/2019

While many Hyundai cars are selling like hot cakes in their respective spaces in India, there were some models wich have been completely forgotten. Here's our list of 10 forgotten Hyundai Cars in India.

Hyundai cars have been a common sight on the Indian public roads for 20 years now. From the hugely-popular Hyundai Creta to the newly-launched yet successful Hyundai Venue, the South Korean brand sits snug in the domestic car buyers’ hearts. It is even the second-largest auto manufacturer in the country, just behind Maruti Suzuki. However, not all Hyundai cars were highly appreciated in India and some have been forgotten. Here is a look at 10 Hyundai cars that failed to draw much attention in the Indian market.

Hyundai Getz

A familiar name, isn’t it? Hyundai introduced the Getz hatchback to the Indian car enthusiasts in 2005 but the car, unfortunately, wasn’t as popular in the market as Hyundai had hoped. The Getz did offer quite a good ride quality and scored well in terms of spaciousness. It even came with a very peppy 1.5-litre diesel engine tuned for 110 bhp and 235 Nm of torque, making it one of the hottest hatches ever at that time. However, while the initial response was good, Maruti Suzuki played its cars with an aggressive game-changer, known as the Swift. While sales weren't throught the roof, the Hyundai Getz was completely left in the dust after its introduction.

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Hyundai Accent Viva

Hyundai brought the Accent Viva to India with an aim of bringing a breath of fresh air to Indian car space. However, its rather unique knotchback styling fell far short of the Indian customers’ predilection. Despite the powerful 1.5-litre CRDi engine producing 81 BHP /187 Nm of torque, not many buyers were willing to spend money on or undertstood the benefits of a knotchback at that time.

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The car was eventually discontinued in 2007 after seven years of existence in the country. It’s quite fortunate that present day Hyundai 's don’t follow the Accent Viva’s footsteps and enjoy a great deal of popularity in India

Fourth-gen Hyundai Elantra

In its latest-gen avatar, the Hyundai Elantra is quite a popular car in India. However, before climbing up to the top of the pile, the Elantra had to experience trying times in the form of measly sales. The Elantra started off its innings in India with the fourth-gen model in 2004, even though it did not succeed in as well as the carmaker initially thought it might.

The polarizing design of the car didn’t help much and it was eventually discontinued in 2010. One of the reasons behind that was the Toyota Corolla, which was at the centre of India's mid-size sedan attention during that time.

Hyundai Sonata Gold

Endowed with a set of Mercedes-Benz inspired headlamps, the Sonata Gold was once considered a handsome-looking sedan that came to us in 2001 – during the days when India was still a hub for compact sedans and hatchbacks. Though having Shahrukh Khan as the brand’s ambassador, and even a potent 2.0-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine under the hood, the Sonata Gold never achieved much success in the country. The car was finally taken out of production in 2005.

Hyundai Sonata Embera

Not long after the Sonata Gold had been shelved, the Sonata Embera was also discontinued in 2008. The car hit Indian showrooms in 2004 and was essentially an update from the poorly selling Sonata Gold. The Embera was a decently-equipped and good looking car but, unfortunatey, was a dud seller. The commanding price of the car should be mainly attributed to its poor sales, as it was the most expensive model sold by Hyundai during those days.

Hyundai Sonata ‘Fluidic’

The 'Sonata' moniker seemed to be an unlucky one for Hyundai India, as after the failure of two generations of Sonata, the sixth-gen car could remedy the cause. Hyundai tried its luck again with the six-gen Sonata in 2012 at a sticker price of around Rs 18 Lakh (ex-showroom). With its fluidic design treatment, the new sedan was quite a looker for many auto enthusiasts. However, that didn't work much as its underpowered petrol mill and steep price bracket led to poor sales of the model.

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First-gen Hyundai Tucson

The first-generation Hyundai Tucson was launched in 2005 as nothing more than an expensive soft-roader rather than a capable, full-blown SUV. Besides the quirky design of the Tucson, the Indian market was not ready for a vehicle of its stature at that time. As a result, Hyundai found just a few buyers willing to buy the first-gen Tucson. Due to the low sales performance of the first-gen model, the second-gen Tucson didn’t make its way to our country. It was only in 2016 that the third-generation Hyundai Tucson was re-introduced in the country. A facelifted version of the current Hyundai Tucson is set to make its entry by the end of 2019.

Hyundai Terracan

Back in 2004, the Hyundai Terracan was launched in the Indian market and was positioned as a flagship SUV in the company’s product range. Powered by a 2.9-litre turbo diesel engine capable of pumping out 148 bhp and 343 Nm of torque, the Terracan was actually the torquiest full-size sport utility vehicle on sale during that year. The ladder-on-frame chassis with an all-wheel-drive drivetrain were arguaby the biggest highlights of the model, which was indeed ahead of its time in our country. As a result, the Terracan found just a few takers in India and was eventually discontinued in 2013.

Second-gen Hyundai Santa Fe

The Hyundai Santa Fe might be an extremely popular SUV in many parts of the world but that’s not the case in India. Coming as the brand’s next entrant in the SUV space, the Santa Fe entered our market via the CBU route which understandably resulted in a premium price tag. In a price-sensitive market like India, it’s easy to understand why the Santa Fe, with its rather hefty price sticker, could not impress the mass audience and even premium SUV buyers.

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Third-gen Hyundai Santa Fe

The South Korean company took another chance with a more stylish third-gen Santa Fe after the second-gen model failed to carve a niche for itself. The third-gen car was quite a looker as it had been developed using Hyundai’s Fluidic design language. However, looks were not enough to liven things up for the Santa Fe moniker. The premium SUV, albeit having fared far better than its predecessors, failed to keep pace with its rivals in terms of sales and was evenutaly axed from the line-up.