Hyundai's Australian EV supply set for a big boost

Hyundai Australia has signalled that we may finally be seeing the start of an easing to the semiconductor supply issue that has hamstrung the launch of its Ioniq 5 EV.

Speaking at the launch of the Ioniq 6 electric sedan, Andrew Stamatakis, Hyundai Australia's Direct Consumer Senior Manager, said the company's supply of EVs to these shores had already improved more than fourfold from 700 vehicles in 2022 to what is envisaged to be 3000 cars this year.

What's more, Hyundai Australia's target for 2024 is 6000 electric Ioniq cars.

“When you overlay that (the 700 EV received in 2022) with 30,000 people on an interest list, there's going to be some disappointed people. We really wish we could have had 30,000 vehicles last year but, alas, we couldn't. We took some learnings,” he said.

“This year, between Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Ioniq 5 N, we're close to 3000 units which was a significant increase on last year, and next year, with Ioniq 7 added to the fold, up to 6000 units. We're getting more regular supply from our factory and we're very, very happy with that – because it means more happy people getting into these cars and experiencing what the best EVs in the market can offer,” he said.

“By the end of next year, Hyundai is going to have an electrified model in every single SUV segment we operate in. Alongside this, we're going to have Bluelink (Hyundai's connected services app) in every single model in the range by the end of next year.”

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Hyundai Seven concept, Hyundai Ioniq 7 previewed

“People forget that we started our electric journey in 2018 with Ioniq,” said Stamatakis.

“Last year, five percent of Hyundai Australia's volume was battery electric vehicles. Towards the end of this year we have Ioniq 5 N and then next year we have Ioniq 7, which is our large SUV battery electric vehicle. ”

Stamatakis noted that Hyundai's electrification efforts didn't solely focus on the Ioniq sub brand.

“[We have] Santa Fe hybrid; we've got next-generation Kona coming out this year in a hybrid powertrain followed by a battery electric powertrain later this year. We've got a facelift i30 Sedan with a hybrid powertrain for the first time in Australia. That's just this year.” he added.

Hyundai Australia's Chief Operating Officer, John Kett, was similarly bullish.

“Think about what Ioniq is doing in transitioning Hyundai from being this innovative brand with respect to a technology, to becoming the EV leader that we want to be,” he added, claiming that the launches of Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, Ioniq 5 N and Ioniq 7 would “position the Hyundai brand as the leader in terms of EV.”

“Do we want to be Tesla? I think everybody wants to be Tesla,” he chuckled when considering sales.

“It opens up the door for the mass consumer EV opportunity that we have, and our first taste of that will also be later this year when you start to see that in the Kona EV,” he noted.

The order books have already opened on Ioniq 6, with 300 units having been sold and another 120 cars arriving this week. Kett claims that an allocation of 1000 Ioniq 6 units had been made for 2023.

The lead time on specific factory orders currently stands at around 6-9 months, although buyers ordering stock directly from the website are seeing fulfilments in as little as 3-4 weeks.

The initial supply has largely been of entry-level rear-drive Dynamiq trims, but Bill Thomas, General Manager Corporate Affairs, envisaged that the bulk of Australia's take-up would comprise all-wheel drive Techniq and Epiq variants.

As it stands, the Ioniq 6 makes an interesting counterpoint to the waves of SUV models flooding the market.

“What's going to bring sexy back from a passenger car perspective?” mused Kett.