Hyundai Australia is bullish about sales prospects for its just-released Ioniq 6 EV sedan, with the company’s Chief Operating Officer, John Kett telling CarsGuide: “We are confident that every one that gets built we can sell.”
“A combination of Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 represents something like 6000 units up until the end of next year. So, 3000 each year, and we’re confident we can sell through that. We don’t see significant challenges.
“Obviously, we need to launch it well. We need to expand our distribution network related to Ioniq products. We need to continually work on the customer delivery side of the business. But our ambition is to just meet that allocation that we have.
“Post that, we see a lot of plants that are starting to gear up in either the US or Europe in terms of building Ioniq. And when they do that, it opens up further opportunity for us because our vehicles are sourced from the Korean plant,” he said.
Hyundai Motor Group is investing more than A$8 billion in new dedicated EV and battery manufacturing facilities in the USA, with construction kicking off in Bryan County, Georgia late last year, and vehicle production scheduled to commence in 2025.
As well as facilities in South Korea, Hyundai currently builds Ioniq models in Indonesia, Singapore and India, and with sister brand Kia designating its Kia Autoland plant in Zilina, Slovakia as a core EV manufacturing hub, European facilities for Hyundai will surely follow soon.
The Ioniq 5 and 6 have proved hugely popular in Europe and already the Kona Electric is built in the company’s Nošovice factory in the Czech Republic.
In terms of sales and delivery, the Ioniq 5 and 6 are marketed in Australia via a ‘direct to consumer’ online model, with dealer ‘delivery partners’ charged with getting cars into peoples’ hands.
According to Mr Kett, Hyundai is expanding from 25 to over 80 ‘Blue Drive’ Ioniq dealers in the local Hyundai network, from a total of more than 180 outlets nationwide.
He also notes that the Ioniq 6’s arrival has solidified the sedan as a popular option in the Australian EV market, now in competition with the segment-dominant Tesla Model 3.
Tesla’s three-grade Model 3 line-up sits in direct competition with the Ioniq 6, its Model Y also aligning closely with the Ioniq 5.
The base Model 3 RWD is roughly $10K cheaper than the entry-level RWD Ioniq 6 Dynamiq but can’t match the Hyundai’s driving range. The two more premium Model 3 variants are AWD and close on price to their AWD Ioniq 6 equivalents.
But in the short to medium term, rather than zeroing in on Tesla, Mr Kett is focused on the Ioniq allocation already heading Australia’s way.
“Through 2024, that’s about right, in terms of what we’ve got. So, I think that’s when we have a real conversation about which competitors we need to target,” he said.
Keyword: Tesla can wait! Hyundai Australia bullish on Ioniq 6 success, and not focused on Tesla Model 3... yet