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Cars&Bikes

Text and photos by William Bonds

Hyundai Sonata

A rev-happy South Korean import tries to find its niche in Japan

You gotta figure that Hyundai thought about selling fridges to Eskimos before they came up with the idea of trying to sell cars in Japan. Well, maybe that’s what cohosting the World Cup does for you. In the spirit of reciprocity, the Japanese are now trying to sell cars to the Koreans (albeit in their American modes, i.e., Lexus and Infiniti). Good grief! Before we know it, the Japanese will be eating kimchi instead of natto for breakfast.

But that will probably come before they start buying Korean cars.

If anyone is going to succeed at this game, though, it would be Hyundai, who are by far the leader of the automotive pack in Korea. But if they are going to crack Japan, it won’t be with the Sonata. It’s not that the Sonata is a bad car; it’s just not likely the Japanese will be turned on to this ubiquitous-in-Korea model, which forms the backbone of Seoul’s taxi fleet. What self-respecting Japanese is going to try and impress the neighbors with a Korean taxi? Not many, I suspect.

So, what does your average Korean taxi driver get for his won? Well, for a start, loads of space. In fact, this is far and away the best selling point for the Sonata. There are very few mid-sized four-door sedans out there with so much passenger room. (Check out the competition and see just how little rear legroom is available.) This car is virtually begging you to move your family in. The seats (electrically adjustable and with built-in heaters in the front) are comfortable, too, but that’s also no big surprise: Korean cars are generally comfortable affairs. The sunroof adds to the impression of spaciousness, the dials are sexy blue and very visible, and the switches are clear and simple. The stereo has a cassette (what, no record player?) as well as a six-CD system for anyone who finds themselves in the 21st century. Good sound, too, and the clever center console accommodates those newfangled compact discs perfectly. The space inside the car doesn’t impact the voluminous trunk, so no problems if you’ve got a foursome for golf.

Unless you’re in a hurry. Or, to put it another way, unless you don’t know how to make the car move. The Koreans are sometimes referred to as the Italians of the East, and the Sonata seems to support this, at least as far as cars go. Italian autos are virtually useless unless their engines are screaming. After lolloping around the back roads of southern Chiba for a day and wrestling with the lame 4-speed automatic/semi-manual gearbox, I came to the conclusion that the Sonata was a cream puff. Finally, in frustration, I decided to slap it around a bit, and everything seemed to fall into place. Well, almost. The steering remained inadequate, first gear was a joke (you can’t shift down unless you are traveling at walking pace; I began to suspect that they’d actually forgot to put a gear in), but in second and third gear, the car was a different animal once the revs hit the 3,000-6,000 range. Hyundai is at pains to point out that the Sonata has the same power-to-weight ratio as a small Mercedes or BMW, but lose those revs and your power dies.

Despite the lightweight steering (with a wheel that’s designed to slip out of your hands), the car corners very impressively, gripping the road in quite ferocious fashion, while the brakes,
like the engine, only seem happy when they’re being abused.

I was beginning to think that this car only makes sense if you are a Korean taxi driver.

Yet despite the billions of Korean people living in Japan, not many are taxi drivers and not many people here are likely to buy the Sonata. There’s that “missing” gear, the imprecise steering, the almost unbelievable absence of a car navigation system, the Hyundai badge, and the price. If the South Koreans want to break into the Japanese market, they really have to be on top of their game. That means top-level cars with all the bits at a bargain price. This is how most Korean manufacturers have succeeded overseas. In Japan, the top-of-the-range 2.4-liter Sonata costs more than ¥2.6 million; in the United States, it’s $19,395 (approximately ¥2.29 million). By comparison, the 2.3-liter Mazda Atenza Sport/6 Series equivalent goes for ¥2.4 million here but $24,470 (approximately ¥2.89 million) in the States. In Japan, you can buy a Mazda RX8 for the same price as the Sonata!

These figures just don’t add up, and the Sonata is doomed to failure here. In Korea, Nissan sells its cars as Samsung. Perhaps Hyundai would do well to look up their old buddies Mitsubishi and, like many other Koreans in Japan, try to blend in rather than move in.

Would you like to comment on this article? Send a letter to the editor at letters@metropolis.co.jp .

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