A few days back we published an article stating that the Korean car makers are posing threat to the French car makers as their share in the European market has been increasing steadily. To counter this, the French companies have requested the European Union to keep a check on car imports from these Korean companies. On the other hand, the Korean companies like Hyundai and Kia Motors are making plans upon plans and in the next three years, they plan to come up with a series of new models as well as upgrades of the existing models.
These companies, over the years, have been growing steadily, moving from the small cars to the highly priced ones. These new models will be a part of those upscale product range. For instance, Kia Motors is expected to launch its Cadenza as year 2014 model, which is an upscale front-wheel-drive sedan. It is expected to be powered by a 3.5-litre V6 engine. Also, the company’s flagship rear-wheel drive, K9 (also known as Quoris in overseas markets) has been approved for sale in United States and the same would arrive as 2015 year model. The compact sedan from Kia, namely the Forte, would be redesigned and it will be launched in January. Sorento, Kia’s top-selling crossover, will get a refresh and will be launched as 2014 model.
Since Kia doesn’t have any plans to enter India, lets focus our attention on Hyundai. Now Hyundai has fast risen into the top 10 automobile manufacturers in the world and now they have Germany on their radar. Hyundai is working on a competitor to the BMW 3-Series which will be launched around 2015. The 3-Series competitor will be a rear-wheel drive vehicle using the Genesis Coupe’s platform. It has been codenamed RK and will be a sports sedan. It remains to be seen how Hyundai plans to uproot the current F30 3-Series, which is one of the best BMWs yet!
Hyundai also plans to give the Verna (Accent) and Elantra a mild facelift in 2014, with the next generation models arriving in 2016. The Korean automaker plans to launch the next generation i10 in 2014, followed by the next generation i20 in 2015. Hyundai will launch the next generation Sonata in 2015, while the Tucson will see a mild facelift in 2013 and a major facelift in 2015. Hyundai Genesis, the luxury sedan, would get a refresh and it is expected to be launched in United States by 2013. Hyundai’s RWD flagship car, Equus, would get new exteriors and will be rolled out as 2014 model. It will also launch its restyled Sonata mid-sized sedan in 2014. Indeed, the growth of these companies can be attributed to the aggressive plans the duo are making. Competitors, please do buck up.
Source – Automotive News
