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they should've went after the prius market first and foremost. Instead they did the sonata and optima hybrid first. Bad move.
the prius is the bread and butter of todays market and of the future. They are now a few years too late.
I don't think it was necessarily a bad move. Insight and C-Max went right at Prius. Insight discontinued AGAIN, and C-Max peaked at 35,000 units last year, and is markedly off that pace this year, even though they've cranked incentives over $4,000, more than double Prius.
Interestingly, the hybrids gaining this year are the Fusion Sedan and Accord Sedan, so two of the normal sedans.
Maybe Hyundai learned a lot, got good feedback from their initial hybrid system, and can now fully develop a more substantive system that can now allow them to squarely target the Prius.
For this to work for them, it must compete against the Prius in MPG, not price. If they are not going to be able to meet or beat the current Prius MPG, undercutting the Prius by 2k will not cut it. It didnt work for the Insight and it won't work for Hyundai. Also, they better make sure whatever MPG claims that are made are real life numbers. If they fudge the MPGs again, they're gonna be in trouble. Again.
Hyundai is no stranger to the hybrid game, selling a gas-electric version of the Sonata in the US since 2011. The 2015-model-year version gets 38 miles per gallon combined, which is certainly admirable but not quite in the same league as the hybrid champion Toyota Prius (50 mpg combined). New spy shots reveal that Hyundai might be finally ready to targeting the non-plug-in fuel economy leader. Why else would some mysterious Hyundai prototypes be cruising through the desert hills with a few Priuses in tow?
Our photographers believe these mules hint at an all-new hybrid model, which makes us think of the Blue Will concept from the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. At the time, Hyundai said the concept could be a preview of a future dedicated hybrid that would compete with the Prius.
We don't know what it all means for sure, but our spy photographers found four heavily modified Elantra GT prototypes driving around with a standard Prius and a Prius V. As if that wasn't enough of a clue, the four changed Elantras represent different approaches Hyundai might be using to go after Toyota, since there were two versions driving by our photographer's lenses, with different rear extensions indicating that both the standard Prius and the larger V might be in Hyundai's sights.
Despite the inclusion of a battery pack and a high-voltage cable running under the car, there was no obvious sign of a plug, so the old rumors of a Sonata PHEV will likely remain in the dustbin for now. Unless that strange rectangle of tape on the gas cover is hiding something surprising, of course.
Does anyone trust their MPG ratings? One amazing feat of the Prius/Toyota/Lexus hybrids are they get the MPG as advertised, especially the Prius.
I'm sure Hyundai will claim the new Prius Fighter gets 70 MPG and Real World will be 27 and then owners get a check for $20 gift card to Chil's saying "sorry".
Does anyone trust their MPG ratings? One amazing feat of the Prius/Toyota/Lexus hybrids are they get the MPG as advertised, especially the Prius.
I'm sure Hyundai will claim the new Prius Fighter gets 70 MPG and Real World will be 27 and then owners get a check for $20 gift card to Chil's saying "sorry".
Actually, I trust them now and didn't before. They know their mpg performance is going to be under a microscope.
I don't think it was necessarily a bad move. Insight and C-Max went right at Prius. Insight discontinued AGAIN, and C-Max peaked at 35,000 units last year, and is markedly off that pace this year, even though they've cranked incentives over $4,000, more than double Prius.
Interestingly, the hybrids gaining this year are the Fusion Sedan and Accord Sedan, so two of the normal sedans.
Maybe Hyundai learned a lot, got good feedback from their initial hybrid system, and can now fully develop a more substantive system that can now allow them to squarely target the Prius.
I guess Hyundai cant do wrong? Because their hybrids sales have been low and they had many issues with their hybrid powertrain, plus they had to lower their hybrid MPG. Sonata Hybrid went from Camry beater to a dud in span of 6-10 months.
C-Max went after Prius v, not Prius... and their sales are down because they had to lower their MPG by crazy amount. Otherwise it is pretty competitive small MPV.
I doubt Hyundai will build Prius fighter... they might do what Toyota does in Europe and offer hybrid powertrain in many of their vehicles, like i30 and Elantra. That makes sense.
Hopefully it is good... competition is only way for technology to improve.
p.s. Accord hybrid was just introduced, Fusion is up by 2% and Sonata is up 17%.
Actually, I trust them now and didn't before. They know their mpg performance is going to be under a microscope.
how does that work - you trust them now after they had to restate their MPG's and after their reliability went to crap? I thought trust is to be earned, not make-believe?
08-20-14, 06:14 PM
