Hyundai to Offer Minivan and SUV for U.S. Market

Hyundai Motor America unveiled plans Wednesday to introduce a minivan and a sport-utility vehicle to its U.S. lineup and redesign its four existing models over the next three years.

The moves, especially adding the new sport-utility, would make Hyundai more competitive in the U.S. market, where it sold just 113,186 cars in 1997. Light pickup trucks, vans and SUVs now account for nearly 45% of all vehicles sold, and analysts say it is difficult for any car maker without a truck line to do well.

The announcement, made during the Detroit auto show, was designed to demonstrate that South Korea’s economic turmoil--including the bankruptcies of several of the country’s largest conglomerates--won’t slow Hyundai’s product development or derail its U.S. marketing effort.

“Hyundai remains a strong force in the global auto industry,” said Hyundai Motor America President M.H. Juhn, who had just returned from a series of meetings with corporate officials in Seoul.

The six-cylinder minivan, to be introduced late next year, will be about the size of a Dodge Caravan and feature “plenty of cup holders,” Juhn said--referring to American consumers’ much-joked-about love of slurping sodas and coffee while driving.

The four-door sport-utility, which will come in two- and four-wheel-drive versions, will be a small one, about the size of Toyota’s RAV4. The main design came from Hyundai’s California Design Studio, in the company’s Fountain Valley headquarters. Plans call for it to be launched in 2000.

Hyundai has not set prices for either new vehicle.

Also on the drawing boards, Juhn said, is a complete replacement later this year for the mid-size Sonata and a new Accent subcompact and a redesigned Tiburon sport coupe in 1999. Hyundai plans to introduce a replacement for its compact Elantra in 2000.