The Korean brand has confirmed that it won’t be going all-electric just yet and said there’s still a future for its internal combustion-powered compact cars.
Despite the overwhelming trend of going full electric, Korean brand Hyundai has confirmed that some of its compact lineup will see another generation.
The news comes via UK publication Autocar, which spoke to Hyundai European chief Michael Cole at the recent Hyundai Kona event. The main stumbling block to mainstream electric car adoption is the price. Why should consumers pay more? Even with government assistance via grants and incentives, electric cars are generally more expensive.
“We’re strategising now about what comes beneath [the] Kona long-term. For now, [the] i10, i20, i30 are all still in our plan, even for the next generation. We’re looking at what we have. Exactly what we will have across those three lines, I can’t say today” said Cole.
Of course, there will be customer who will want a small EV and Cole says Hyundai is planning for that too. “We don’t want to lose any customers, I don’t want to walk away from any customer group. So we have to think about those i10, i20, i30 customers. What could the future with electrification look like for them? It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be [the] Hyundai Kona or Hyundai Ioniq 5. We have to think about what could come sub-Kona.”
MORE: Meet the new Hyundai Kona – confirmed for SA in October 2023.
A quick glance at the February 2023 sales figures shows Hyundai South Africa’s most popular non-SUV models are the Grand i10 and i20. The C-segment i30 is only offered in flagship i30N trim and is not a mainstream product, but rather one for the enthusiasts.
It is important to note that it’s only the i30 (i30N) which is sourced from a European plant in the Czech Republic. The SA-spec Grand i10 and i20 are both sourced from Hyundai’s facilities in India.
