Classy: Hyundai Motor Co’s president and chief executive officer Jaehoon Chang next to the company’s Ioniq 6 EV sedan that was unveiled at the 2022 Busan International Motor Show in South Korea. The motor show runs through July 24. — Bloomberg
SEOUL: Hyundai Motor Co unveiled its Ioniq 6 sedan yesterday, continuing its ambitious push into electric vehicles (EV) with an eye on challenging rivals such as Tesla Inc and General Motors Co as the industry grapples with supply-chain disruptions.
The Ioniq 6 can travel up to 610 km on a single charge with its 77.4 kilowatt-hour battery, compared with 429 km for the Ioniq 5, Hyundai said in a statement as the latest model was introduced at the Busan International Motor Show. Production will start in the third quarter this year.
Sales in the United States will begin in early 2023, while the wider rollout will be announced later, the company said.
The EV will be aimed at young, single professionals, in contrast to the bigger, more family-focused Ioniq 5, Hyundai’s senior vice-president of North America sales Randy Parker said. The car will be produced in Asan, South Korea, with no plans to make it outside the country for now, EV head Heung Soo Kim said. Hyundai didn’t announce a sales target for the model.
Hyundai plans to invest 95.5 trillion won (RM324bil) in electrification this decade, introducing at least 17 new models between this year and 2030 and targeting annual sales of 1.87 million EVs by the end of the period.
The company is gunning for a 7% share of the global EV market by 2030, and an 11% share in the US. The arrival of the Ioniq 6 comes about seven-and-a-half months after Hyundai Motor Group unit Kia unveiled its latest Niro electric SUV.
Hyundai and Kia together sold about 123,000 battery-powered and plug-in hybrid EVs in the first half of this year, putting them third on the world’s top EV-maker list, behind Tesla and BYD Co, according to BloombergNEF data. The Europe, Middle East and Africa region accounted for nearly 60% of their sales, while Kia has become the second-most popular EV brand in the US this year.
“I’m positive about the Ioniq 6, especially in Europe because Ioniq 5 and Kia’s EV 6 were so popular there,” said Angela Hong, an analyst with Nomura in Seoul. “Hyundai’s EV margins don’t seem that bad so far because a weaker Korean won has offset losses from higher battery prices.”
The won has weakened about 10% against the dollar this year.
The Ioniq 6 has similar autonomous driving features to the Ioniq 5, including highway driving assist and blind-spot collision-avoidance assist. The model’s seats are about 30% thinner than other models in the series, providing more legroom, while there are five USB ports and space next to the driver for a laptop. Some software can also be updated remotely, a first for Hyundai.
“Hyundai is changing so fast to win the race in the EV industry, faster than other traditional carmakers,” said Woo Taek Hwang, a fund manager at Korea Investment Management Co in Seoul.
“The Ioniq series reminds me of Samsung’s Galaxy series, when Samsung was working extremely hard to catch up with Apple’s iPhones. Hyundai is becoming a fast follower for Tesla.” — Bloomberg
