It looks like Hyundai have pulled the plug on development of its new MPV for 2007. The new Hyundai MPV was going to be called the Entourage and be based around the popular Kia Sedona.
It would appear Hyundai don’t want to compete in a market where it seems sales are tailing off and with the Kia Sedona doing well, will instead concentrate its efforts on the larger 4X4 market with a seven seater Sport Utility Vehicle.
The Kia Sedona has aleady established itself as one of the most popular selling MPV’s in the UK taking the title of “Best Selling Retail MPV” in 2005. Hyundai’s current offering in the form of the Trajet, has seen lukewarm sales and with the over saturation of Multi Purpose Vehicles on the market, it makes sense for Hyundai to focus on the growing demand for SUV’s.
Hyundai are already developing a larger version of its Santa Fe for 2007 and already have the Hyundai Tucson challenging the likes of the Toyota Rav 4 and Honda CRV.
I think this is good news as Hyundai and Kia need to take slightly different design directions so as to not trip over each other.