This is getting out of hand

"LJ909" (lj909)
04/17/2019 at 11:47 • Filed to: Hyundai, Crossovers

Enter the 2020 Hyundai Venue. Adding onto the already 4 other crossovers in Hyundai’s lineup and awkward looking at hell, its a Nissan Kicks competitor that’ s 5 inches shorter than the Kona and is pretty much a tall Accent. Just...why?

DISCUSSION (29)

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 11:52

So... is it a Kia Soul underneath?

jimz > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 11:54

so now they have not one, but two cribs of the 2014 Cherokee?

LJ909 > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
04/17/2019 at 11:55

Pretty much which also means its going to have very little to no rear legroom. The Soul, Accent, Rio and Veloster all ride on the same platform.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 12:04

Why?

Because they’ll offer extremely reasonable financing to people with prime credit, a reasonable amount of trunk money, and sell 10,000 of them a month.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 12:05

Because people buy them.

At least this one seems to have better visibility than its competitors.

LJ909 > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks
04/17/2019 at 12:10

If this is the case this should have one over to Kia, who deal with more people in that category .

LJ909 > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
04/17/2019 at 12:11

The visibility part is true. Plus, with it being Hyundai, the warranty and the standard features alone should make it a better deal than most.

PS9 > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 12:12

Because $$$

Once people stop buying these things, they’ll stop. Until then...

412GTI > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 12:13

Looks like something you see outside of America. I live in the city and don’t get how people would want something with 121 hp. The roads are still big outside the city and everyone road trips.

But as I keep saying, give them what they want. If there’s an ass for this seat, might as well fill it.

LJ909 > 412GTI
04/17/2019 at 12:21

Yea it looks like something that would be released for emerging market segments in some small country. But yea I dont get the need for these small under powered engines. Depending on where you live, some of these cars are so slow they are dangerous. I know where I live, merging onto the freeway in my old Sonic was a hell of a gamble.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 12:31

So is it smaller than the Kona? It’s seems to be a very similar size, but with less polarizing looks and it’s odd to have a product that would cannibalize your own sales.

shop-teacher > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 12:34

Why? Because people aren’t buying sedans much anymore, but they love them some tall hatchbacks.

See also: Businesses love da money!

LJ909 > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
04/17/2019 at 12:37

Yea from what I read its about the same size as the Accent and shorter than the Kona. So its playing in the CX-3,Ecosport,Kicks arena.

LJ909 > shop-teacher
04/17/2019 at 12:47

I dont really buy into the popular narrative that sedans aren’ t selling anymore. Hyundai’s own Elantra outsold both the Kona and Santa Fe last year by thousands.

Khalbali > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 12:53

Because no more accent hatch. Also I kinda like the looks of it.

Probenja > 412GTI
04/17/2019 at 12:59

Yup, looks very similar to the Creta .

Kinja'd!!!

shop-teacher > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 13:09

Fleet sales

bhtooefr > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 13:09

Realistically, in most of the country, it’s perfectly fine, and low-powered engines like that will cruise at relatively wide open throttle settings, improving efficiency.

I mean, I have 121 hp in a vehicle that’s probably similar weight (although much better aerodynamics and therefore high-speed performance), and it’s perfectly fine. Just have to mat the accelerator if I want to get merged on a short ramp to freeway speeds.

In most of the world, 0-60 in ~10 seconds is a normal car, and slower is common too. It’s really North America that’s the outlier.

LJ909 > shop-teacher
04/17/2019 at 13:25

True. You could say the same for crossovers too though.

shop-teacher > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 13:59

I think you’re kidding yourself if you think sedans are selling at the same rate as crossovers to actual people . I’ve got something like 70 coworkers in my school. About a dozen of them have purchased new vehicles in the last coupl e years. Only one bought a car, a Focus hatchback. The others all bought crossovers. All but one of them replaced a sedan. The only outlier there was the woman who no longer needs a minivan (kids are grown up), so she bought a CX-5.

The CX-5 and the CRV are du king it out for the most popular vehicle among our staff. There are five of each in our staff lot.

Thinking back, in the seven years I’ve worked at this school, only one person has purchased a sedan.

facw > 412GTI
04/17/2019 at 14:09

It’s 121 HP, not 40. It will be able to get out of it s way just fine. It will have a top speed well above the speed limit, and will be able to do just fine on a highway on ramp (assuming the driver isn’t excessively timid).

facw > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 14:12

It’s not just the numbers. I think Ford was selling nearly 500k sedans a year before they killed them all. Granted those numbers were dropping, but that’s still more cars than many manufacturers sell at all. The issue is how much profit they are making on each. Better margins on the CUVs (though will see if that is sustained when they are the only choice).

412GTI > facw
04/17/2019 at 14:21

Oh I’m sure, I’ve driven plenty of Versa’s and Accents. These lifted versions of cars just annoy me when you could get something slightly bigger/more refined with more passing power and get similar mpg.

LJ909 > shop-teacher
04/17/2019 at 15:16

Didn’ t say they were selling at the same rate. I’ m just saying that reports that there is this sedan apocalypse are overstated. Honda still sold nearly 326k Civics last year compared to nearly 380k CR-V’s. Even over at Toyota the Camry is still selling over 340k units.

Granted there are extreme examples where there is clear evidence that a crossover is outselling a sedan, like over at Mazda for instance . If you look at the 6's sales numbers and look at the CX-5, you’ll wonder how its still around. But for the most part, sedans still sell. Not everyone is sold on a false sense of security because of ride height.

LJ909 > facw
04/17/2019 at 15:31

Right. Ford’s example I still think is an over reaction to a market that will correct itself when gas goes up (its not a question of if given its a finite resource) or if the market outside of wealthy luxury buyers (who seem to be the only ones makers of EV’s are catering to) doesnt accept EV’s/no adoption due to little to no infrastructure .

I do wonder what the profit margins on CUV’s are, they could be better than sedans, but I dont think they are better than full size SUV’s/trucks.

shop-teacher > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 15:37

I never said sedans don’t sell at all , just that crossovers are where the market is going. Remember, your original question was why would Hyundai do this. The reason is that the market’s preference has shifted in a big way. I’m not happy about it, by the way. I like sedans.

Captain of the Enterprise > LJ909
04/17/2019 at 16:28

I actually like how it looks but the Kona is already small to me.

Monkey B > shop-teacher
04/17/2019 at 16:31

it’s really not surprising, sitting higher is better. Ingress /egress is better, comfort is better, vision is better and they aren’t all that different to drive than a low sedan/hatch variant for the average consumer.

shop-teacher > Monkey B
04/17/2019 at 17:46

Agreed. I bought a CX-5 for my wife afterall.