“Sonata taxi revival?” Hyundai Motors plans to introduce Chinese-made Sonata taxis
Hyundai Motor Company is expected to import the Sonata taxi produced in China into the domestic market. The Sonata Taxi (LF) was discontinued at the Asan factory in Korea last July due to model aging, and currently only semi-large LPG taxis and electric taxis are available for purchase.
According to industry news, Hyundai Motor Company is recently seeking to domestically import the 8th generation Sonata (DN8) produced at its local factory in China. This is a measure to resolve the backlash from the taxi industry due to the supply and demand shortage of medium-sized LPG taxis following the discontinuation of the 7th generation Sonata taxi.
The reason the existing Sonata taxi was discontinued was not only because the model was aging but also because profitability was deteriorating and Hyundai Motor Company announced that it would focus more on electric vehicles. However, with the discontinuation of the Sonata taxi, the taxi industry was burdened with having to purchase semi-large taxis or expensive electric taxis costing more than 10 million won.
To solve this problem, Hyundai Motor Company is introducing a method of producing and importing the new Sonata taxi, developed based on the 8th generation Sonata, from China. Since it is produced in China, price competitiveness is expected to be excellent.
However, there is currently opposition from the union. It is claimed that the reimportation of taxis is a violation of the collective agreement. This is because Hyundai Motor Company's labor-management agreement prohibits the domestic reimportation of vehicle models and parts produced at overseas factories. Accordingly, Hyundai Motor Company's position is that it is not a violation of the collective agreement because the product has already been discontinued.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Company's Sonata Taxi (7th generation LF) sold 9,009 units out of the total 34,476 Sonata sales as of November this year, accounting for a high proportion of about 26%.