2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6: Black Friday sale nets 55 orders

Hyundai's clever Black Friday sales initiative with its Ioniq 6 electric sedan brought in 55 orders, the company has confirmed.

As described further down in our earlier story ▼, the sale included a complimentary $10,500 trim upgrade on in-stock MY23 Ioniq 6 examples –which excluded the updated MY24 model detailed in early November.

With the Ioniq 6 being an all-new model line, and this being the first time the Korean brand has tried a Black Friday sale, it has little precedent or context to compare that result to.

Still, with 468 sales recorded to the end of October (November results due next week), 55 represents a handy 11% bump – and Hyundai's happy to call it a success.

"We need to react immediately in some creative way that keeps the retail going"

The company hasn't confirmed it'll lock in another sale this time in 2024, but, speaking with Wheels today, Hyundai Australia communications manager Guido Schenken said it's a positive result that "could lead to us potentially revisiting the concept next year".

Whether that would be with the Ioniq 6 or a different model remains to be seen, although Hyundai Australia chief operating officer John Kett told media at last week's Kona Hybrid launch these sorts of initiatives are important when the dealers have less capacity to run their own special sales as needed.

"This is our chance to test initiatives," Mr Kett said. "You've seen the journey: we sold it (Ioniq 6) online, and now we're bringing the network online. One of the things you recognise when you're running this business model is that typically, under franchise, the dealer will discount, lose their margins, get together with the dealer council, complain, so then you put an incentive on and, quite rightly it corrects itself."

"So what we're trying to do is, we've got to run that dealer retail role immediately, so that when we see long inventory positions happen on a colour or a trim, we need to react immediately in some creative way that keeps the retail going and protects that new innovative margin that we've put in place for our dealer network. It's a real learning curve for us," he said.

Mike Stevens

November 20: Hyundai launches Black Friday sale for Ioniq 6 EV

The 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric sedan will offer a complimentary trim upgrade valued at up to $10,500.

Hyundai Australia has confirmed it’s running a ‘Black Friday’ event for the model-year 2023 Ioniq 6, running from Friday November 24 to Monday November 27.

The brand said approximately 600 vehicles are available to purchase nationwide, with a complimentary upgrade from the Ioniq 6 Dynamiq RWD to the Techniq AWD, or the Techniq AWD to Epiq AWD.

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Upgrading from a base Dynamiq RWD to a mid-spec Techniq AWD would cost $10,500, while the price difference between the Techniq and flagship Epiq – with standard digital side mirrors – is $5288.

The offer does not apply to the recently-announced 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6, which saw the addition of a Model 3-fighting $65,500 entry variant, a standard heat pump and battery preconditioning, the deletion of the Techniq variant, a new Epiq RWD model, and optional digital side mirrors.

Hyundai Australia has also launched a new stock locator for the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 electric cars, which are exclusively sold online and then delivered to select dealers, and listed wait times on its web configurator.

VFACTS new-car sales data reveals 468 examples of the initially supply-constrained Ioniq 6 have been sold in Australia since it launched in March, compared to 15,718 Tesla Model 3s.

Hyundai isn’t the only company offering a complimentary model upgrade this end-of-year. Stellantis Australia is allowing buyers to jump to a higher spec of the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio, along with the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Gladiator, at no cost until December 31, 2023.

Tesla is also offering discounts for pre-update Model 3 stock in its online inventory, ahead of the launch of a facelifted model in Australia between January and March 2024.

For a full run-down on end-of-year new car deals available in Australia, click here.