Spotted: a 2010 Hyundai Sonata

Anyone who regularly attends a car event will recognize it: there is almost as much interesting stuff to see in the parking lot as there is at the event itself. The same goes for the North Holland Oldtimer Festival in Hem, which again traditionally took place last Easter weekend. Many special and rare classics and youngtimers were on display in the event halls (including motorcycles and trucks), but we also feasted our eyes in the visitor parking lot. Last weeks we picked up in
Spotted
some favorites. This last time: a Hyundai Sonata.

The Hyundai Sonata

In itself, the Hyundai Sonata is not an unfamiliar model line for us. The 1989 second model generation was the first to be officially delivered in the Netherlands, and the model remained here until we had to say goodbye to the fifth generation in 2010. A sales topper the Sonata was never here, but that fifth generation in particular did not perform badly in a segment dominated by German brands.

The sixth generation Hyundai Sonata

In 2009, Hyundai introduced the sixth-generation Hyundai Sonata for the 2010 model year. The sleek lines of the previous model were exchanged for fluid forms of the brand’s now new design language. Otherwise, the Sonata mostly picked up where the previous one left off. The car offered relatively much for little, really just as all other Hyundai models did. Under the hood from now on there were only four-cylinders. The V6 and diesel had disappeared from the range, but an LPG variant was supplied in some countries. Also new to some markets was the Sonata Hybrid, which came with slightly different bumpers and light units.

Hyundai Sonata no longer coming to the Netherlands

Because sales in Europe for previous generations were somewhat on the low side anyway, Hyundai decided to stop delivering the Sonata on our continent. Well, with the exception of a few Eastern European countries, where large non-German sedans still had a chance to succeed and Hyundai was often a bigger brand than ours, too. However, the main markets for this generation Hyundai Sonata were North America and Asia. Despite its good sales worldwide, the sixth generation had a rather short career, because in 2014 (for model year 2015) another completely new model generation was already ready.

The spotted specimen

In the visitor parking lot of the North Holland Oldtimer Festival, we saw this one from 2010, a fairly early one of this generation in other words. The car has also been in the Netherlands since 2011. Probably came along as moving goods, or someone must have been really sorry that the Hyundai Sonata was no longer delivered here. At least the current owner, who has owned the car since 2021, has a rather anonymous and still quite exclusive car with it.

Indeed, this generation Sonata is certainly exclusive in our country. According to the RDW, there are about 60 on registration, although that probably includes a lot of previous-generation units registered in 2010. If we do not count introduction year 2010, only fourteen Hyundai Sonatas of this model are still on Dutch registration plates.

Should the Hyundai Sonata return?

Frankly, we are not too sad that this sixth-generation Hyundai was no longer delivered in the Netherlands. Then again, we like the succeeding generation of the 2015 model year. The eighth generation (2019 model year) may again look a bit very Asian, but we think the recent facelift for the 2023 model year is again very successful. So successful in fact, that when the car was unveiled, we were happy to pay a little attention to it, even though the Sonata will not be delivered here. Hey Hyundai, the plug-in hybrid version could be quite interesting here, right?