Entourage dead, Hyundai says no to badge engineering
When Hyundai dealers complained about not having a minivan in 2006, the automaker reached into the corporate pool and re-badged the Kia Sedona, turning into the Entourage. The timing was poor, as minivan sales plummeted across the board. Last year, sales were down 50% on the Entourage to just 8,400 units (Kia sold 27,000 Sedonas in the same period). It was a brutal lesson, but Hyundai's U.S. CEO John Krafcik says the company learned "why you don't do badge engineering." Needless to say, the plug is being pulled on the Hyundai Entourage later this year. With its sales wounded by the dismissed Hyundai, the Kia Sedona will continue to grace showrooms. For now, at least.
[Source: BusinessWeek]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jason 6:05PM (4/10/2009)
The Koreans get it.
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Rob 6:12PM (4/10/2009)
I'd honestly never even heard of or seen this vehicle before.
>shrug
LimeDaiquiri 6:19PM (4/10/2009)
+1
Yes they get it, and they learned from their mistake the FIRST time. *Cough*GM*Cough*
Tourian 6:51PM (4/10/2009)
Oh come on. This isn't the only vehicle that Hyundai and Kia have that share many traits and are built on the same platform.
BigWill 6:52PM (4/10/2009)
+1. Not only did the Koreans learn it the first time, GM never learned it despite having their asses handed to them because of it. Anyone remember the Ford/Lincoln ads many moons ago where the valets couldn't tell the difference between a Caddy, Buick Park Avenue and Olds 98? GM was hit so badly by the ads that a suit at GM made a personal appeal to a Ford to stop running the ads.
However, I don't think anyone would mind if Hyundai steals the Kia No. 3 and sells it as the new Accent.
Aprime 7:12PM (4/10/2009)
The first time?
Well some people forgot their small SUVs pretty fast.
Pips 8:18PM (4/10/2009)
There is nothing to do with something wrong with badge engineering, the problem is the way they price the Entourage way higher than the Sedona yet the contents of these vans were the same (plus they look exactly the same with just a diff. badges). There is no justification on the price increase. Look at the Town and Country vs. the Caravan, the are the same yet the T&C go luxury and charge the high price and justified. Hyundai could also do more to change the look between the 2 and ask for a high price-like what they did in their current line-up: ex. Tuson vs. Sportage. Too bad they gave up so early, minivans sell number may be lower than before, but families still love them. As GM and Ford pull out of the minivan market, Entourage/Sedona could be an excellent competition with the Caravan and the cheaper alternative to Toyota/Hondas' vans.
Dave 6:20PM (4/10/2009)
I think Hyundai has a strong enough lineup of crossovers that could easily pick up the lost sales (if any) of this van. Santa Fe in particular.
And speaking of vans, I've been seeing a lot more Kia Rondos lately. Is this a sign that there is finally a minivan market emerging in American? (I refuse to call the behemoths that Honda, Toyota, and Chrysler sell 'mini'vans.)
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yournamehere6785 6:39PM (4/10/2009)
slow news day? haha
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John 6:42PM (4/10/2009)
Now that they've learned this lesson, perhaps they could share the wisdom with GM? Yes Pontiac G5, I'm looking at you.
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whofan 6:46PM (4/10/2009)
This is the minivan That Motor trend said was better than Chryslers` van?
I let subscription lapse to Motor trend.
Surprised Hyundai gave up so soon on the minivan. I`ve seen many were I live.
For the ultimate family vehicle Chrysler is the only place to shop.
The minivan is still better that any crossover or SUV.
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chconline 7:00PM (4/10/2009)
I disagree. The Honda Odyssey is the best. ;)
tekd 6:49PM (4/10/2009)
Whoa stop the presses, you mean Hyundai actually figured out that having both an Entourage and a Sedona just means that they'll steal each others sales?!
What a breakthrough idea here, having two vehicles that are virtually identical just means less sales for each. Wow.
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Maestro Mario 6:53PM (4/10/2009)
Too big, too heavy, too thirsty, too expensive.
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CEMan 6:59PM (4/10/2009)
I have a friend who has the Sedona, which is just the old Ford Windstar. The thing eats front tires like a drag racer on Saturday night. Kia knows there is a problem and chooses to do nothing about it.
There is a reason Ford killed this POS.
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whofan 7:09PM (4/10/2009)
The KIA and Ford minivans have nothing in common.
tanooki2003 8:09PM (4/10/2009)
CEMan
The Kia Sedona and Ford Windstar are not related at all. The only thing they share in common is that they both have 4 wheels, doors, headlights, and are minivans, none of which also are shared parts. The Kia-Ford alliance ended in 1998 resulting in Kia being auctioned off. The 3 contenders were Daewoo, Samsung motors, and Hyundai. Of course we all know that Hyundai was the winning bidder of Kia approx on Sept 28 1998. I remembered all of this while it was happening so that's how I know.
Next time try not pulling your so-called concocted BS from your a$$. You should really try researching vehicles instead of mindless tard styled assumptions, especially before you go online and make ridiculous comments like that, in turn making yourself not that much brighter than a failing 4th grader or the wet stuff underneath big rocks.
Judy Zik 8:52PM (4/10/2009)
Dumbest thing I have heard in a long time. There are no common parts or engineering between the two vehicles. Ford's alliance with Kia died a long time ago.
The Sedonna is a good try by Kia but not quite there. It is well equiped, aced the safety tests, drives nice and priced right. Unfortunately it falls apart too soon. One can see the similarities between that description and the old Windstars but Kia and Ford got there by following their own seperate paths. As for the Freestar the last CR surverys I saw showed 3 and 4 year old models stacking up about the same reliability wise as the Odyessy. Unfortunately Ford couldn't recover from the bad press from problems with the earlier models so they simply started again from the ground up with the Flex. Removing the sliding doors and calling it a CUV instead of a Minivan is just a marketing excercise.
brn 7:35PM (4/10/2009)
This has nothing to do with brand engineering. The sales sucked, so they discontinued it. Let's not try to read too much into it.
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why not the LS2LS7? 7:41PM (4/10/2009)
Minivan sales are low anyway, having two models doesn't make sense. Kia and Hyundai have shared cars before, they're not against it.
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