Hyundai Australia will not continue with the planned launch of a top-of-the-range version of its i30 Sedan Hybrid.
Plans to launch a flagship version of the 2025 Hyundai i30 Sedan Hybrid have been cancelled for Australia.
Hyundai Australia has confirmed it no longer intends to launch the i30 Sedan Hybrid Premium, despite announcing the variant in October 2023 for an arrival between April and June 2024.
The Hybrid Premium was due to launch at a similar time to the mid-spec Hybrid Elite, which arrived in local showrooms in August 2024 – two months behind schedule – but a Hyundai Australia spokesperson told Drive at the time local timing for the Hybrid Premium was “still TBC [to be confirmed]”.
Asked for an update this week, the spokesperson told Drive there are now “no current plans” to launch an i30 Sedan Hybrid Premium variant in Australia.
The spokesperson said Hyundai Australia would focus on the existing i30 Sedan Hybrid and Hybrid Elite variants “for now”, with any other hybrid trims – including the sports-themed Hybrid N Line available in South Korea – currently ruled out for a local launch.
It will leave Hyundai without a rival to the Toyota Corolla ZR Hybrid flagship, which was added to the sedan line-up in November 2022 after it was previously limited to the entry-level Ascent Sport and mid-spec SX in hybrid form.
MORE: 2025 Hyundai i30 Sedan Elite Hybrid price confirmed
The Toyota Corolla sedan went hybrid-only in June 2024, while the Hyundai i30 Sedan remains available with a 2.0-litre non-turbo petrol, a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol and a 1.6-litre hybrid – along with a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol in the N performance flagship.
A Premium edition of the i30 Sedan is available with the 2.0-litre non-turbo engine for $38,500 before on-road costs, while the $41,500 N Line Premium has a 1.6-litre turbo.
With a $4000 difference between non-hybrid and hybrid versions lower in the range, the i30 Sedan Hybrid Premium was likely to be priced from $42,500 – compared to $40,260 for a Corolla ZR Hybrid sedan.
Added equipment over the $37,500 Hybrid Elite would have likely included an eight-speaker Bose audio system, a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat with two-position memory, and heated and ventilated front seats.
A heated steering wheel, LED tail-lights, a 360-degree camera, and a sunroof were also expected to be added to the flagship hybrid variant, based on the specifications of the 2.0-litre Premium over the Elite.
It is unclear if the Hybrid Premium would have moved to larger 17-inch alloy wheels as the Hybrid Elite retains the 16-inch items from the base i30 Sedan Hybrid – despite the 2.0-litre Elite and Premium upgrading to the same, larger wheel design over the entry-level variant.
Hybrid versions feature a 1.6-litre non-turbo four-cylinder petrol engine matched to an electric motor for a combined 104kW/265Nm output, with a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Combined fuel consumption is rated at 3.9L/100km, identical to the Toyota Corolla Hybrid sedan.
VFACTS new-car sales results reveal 2028 examples of the Hyundai i30 Sedan Hybrid were delivered in Australia in 2024, accounting for a 16 per cent share of the i30’s 12,682 sales across its i30 Sedan and unrelated i30 Hatch bodies.
The Hyundai i30 Sedan – which launched in Australia in 2020 – was recently hit with a three-star ANCAP safety rating under its latest and most-stringent 2023-25 testing criteria, with the score applicable to the facelifted model built from October 2023 onwards, excluding the i30 Sedan N.
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