Less than 3 per cent of Hyundai’s sales are electric – compared to 11 per cent of Kias – and the new boss of the company in Australia is not happy.
The new boss of Hyundai Australia has pulled no punches in admitting its electric vehicle (EV) sales share is “extremely low” compared to other brands – and that rival Kia is doing a “much better” job.
The remarks come as Hyundai and all other new-car brands in Australia face strict emissions targets that encourage the sale of electric vehicles to offset high-CO2 models.
The South Korean car giant now markets six electric vehicles – Inster, Kona, Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, Ioniq 9 and the Mighty truck – but only 2.7 per cent of its total sales so far this year have been electric (1040 of 38,948).
MORE: 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 price and specs – most expensive car to wear Korean brand’s badge
It compares to 10.8 per cent of Kia sales – even though it offers five EVs, not six – and 16.4 per cent of MG sales, with all other brands in the market that quote a lower share than Hyundai fielding a smaller range of electric cars.
“We do a terrible job with our EVs. [That’s] on the record. We are not doing the job we should be,” Hyundai Australia CEO Don Romano told media at the launch of its latest electric car, the Ioniq 9 large SUV.
“Our market share of electric vehicles is extremely low relative to our market share of total vehicles.
“And the only explanation for that is that we haven’t put enough focus on it, because I can see other … companies that are selling electric cars that are doing a much better job with their EVs than they do with their ICE [petrol and diesel models]. We’re the opposite.”
MORE: 2025 Hyundai Inster review – Australian first drive
The Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 launched in Australia in 2021 and 2023 respectively through a fixed-price online sales model, where vehicles would be released in small batches available to purchase online.
Intended to ensure the limited supply of vehicles available was fairly distributed, prices were non-negotiable, and dealers’ only involvement in the process was delivering cars to customers for a flat fee.
Hyundai has since ditched the fixed-price model, but Romano told media it has had the flow-on effect of getting the brand’s dealers disengaged with electric cars.
“We’ve spent some time in the months that I’ve been here really discussing what’s at the root of that [EV sales issue],” he said with key Hyundai marketing executives – who worked for the company when the fixed-price model was in place – beside him.
MORE: Hyundai drops fixed-price online sales for electric cars
“Part of it is when we first came out with EVs, we were selling direct, we went around our dealers.
“We have a job to do to get our dealers back in the game and to let them know that ‘no, we are going through our dealer body and that you are an important part of the distribution process.’
“We have a lot of work to do beyond just marketing. I think it has to do with infrastructure training and getting our dealers comfortable with the technologies.
“That’s going to be a big push forward with this vehicle [Ioniq 9] … We need to really completely change the way in which we interact with our dealers and communicate, train … and then help them market to customers that are interested in EVs.”
MORE: Hyundai not bothered that Ioniq 6 N won’t be a big seller
Much of Kia’s sales success with electric cars has come through the EV5, a Chinese-made mid-size SUV, which starts $12,000 cheaper than an Ioniq 5 – yet has no Hyundai equivalent in Australia.
Romano admitted that Kia is doing “much better” in electric vehicle sales.
“I would not say our pricing competitiveness is any different than anybody else, other than maybe the Chinese, but when it comes down to Kia, you’re going to find that we are very much aligned,” he said.
“It’s just that they have other vehicles and other segments that we don’t. We have vehicles and segments that they don’t.”
MORE: Australia’s best-selling electric cars in the first six months of 2025
A Hyundai version of the EV5 is sold in China as the Elexio, but it is yet to be confirmed for Australia.
The Ioniq 9 – a circa-$130,000 drive-away, seven-seat SUV – is unlikely to add much to Hyundai’s electric-vehicle sales tally, given Kia has only sold 165 examples of the related EV9 so far this year.
Hyundai says offering the vehicle is not about sales volume, Romano not acknowledging the possibility that the Ioniq 9 was forced on the Australian team by head office in South Korea.
“It’s more about the brand, where we’re going as a brand, and the willingness to go and take a risk in a higher-end [segment], and just put it out there,” he told media.
“I think it’s a bold play. We brought one of the smallest ones [electric cars] out, and we’re bringing out one of the biggest. Who [else] can offer that range?
“I see some of our competitors that are really focused just on ‘hey, let’s just make cheap little EVs that are affordable for volume’s sake’.
“We have no issue with our volume, we’re in a growth mode right now. … I’m not looking at it to grow market share. I’m looking at more as a brand opportunity for us just to say ‘this is what we stand for.’
MORE: Hyundai Insteroid concept adds Ioniq 5 N power, wild looks to tiny electric car
“It doesn’t even make much difference on an NVES because the volume’s so low, so really this is strictly to be able to say, ‘Hey, we we’re in the game and we’re going to stay in the game’.”
The NVES – Australia’s just-introduced emissions rules for new vehicles – will penalise car makers for selling too many high-emissions vehicles.
Romano said Hyundai is well-placed for the regulations, as it has plans to grow its electric-car range and sales, alongside an expanding fleet of hybrid models.
The post Hyundai admits it does a ‘terrible job’ selling electric cars appeared first on Drive.