Hyundai discontinues Entourage minivan

Facing ever-slipping sales, Hyundai has officially pulled the plug on its Entourage minivan. Already a rare sight on North American roads, Hyundai managed to sell just 5,400 buyers last year, a 67 percent drop-off from 2008. The Entourage was introduced in 2007.



Even at its best year, Hyundai sold just 17,000 Entourage vans, a far cry from the automaker's expectations. The minivan market has been in a steady decline since SUVs became mainstream more than 15 years ago and many automakers have abandoned the segment altogether; the only domestic automaker to continue selling a traditional van is the brand that invented the segment, Chrysler.

Kia will continue to sell the nearly identical Sedona, however, meaning that the minivan faithful can still shop one of the South Korean automaker's showrooms. Hyundai will continue producing the Entourage for a few months before killing it at the end of 2009 model year production this summer.