Hyundai supplier hints at revamped Elantra for 2015

Wednesday, 9 October 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: A revamped version of Hyundai Motor’s Elantra, the company’s popular compact sedan, could be launched in 2015 after a small company said it had won a contract to supply steering wheels for that time. South Korea’s Dayou Smart Aluminum said in a filing on Monday that the company would supply steering wheels for the new Elantra for seven years starting the second half of 2015.

It said the timing could be subject to change depending on Hyundai Motor’s development plan. Hyundai’s current generation of Elantra was launched in 2010, and is the top-selling model in the United States and Korea after the Sonata mid-sized sedan. The bread-and-butter Elantra model also won the car of the year honours at the Detroit auto show in 2012. “The supply of automobile parts usually coincides with the production timing of cars. Given Hyundai’s product cycle of five to six years, Hyundai is likely to launch the new Elantra in 2015,” said Suh Sung-moon, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities. A Hyundai Motor spokesman declined to comment on the production plan for the fully refreshed Elantra. Dayou is South Korea’s top steering wheel maker, which counts Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and General Motors’ local unit as its customers, the company said in a filing.