Car giant’s huge move against Chinese threat
Global car maker Hyundai has been forced to make a drastic move in order to counter China’s growing dominance of the Aussie car market.
Hyundai has slashed the prices of slow-selling electric models, discounting some cars by more than $30,000.
The brand has responded to the threat posed by emerging Chinese brand by sharpening its pencil until the end of the year.
The best deals are on Hyundai’s odd-looking Ioniq 6 sedan ahead of the imminent introduction of a new model.
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Model year 2023 examples of the car that remain in stock have been slashed by as much as $34,142, bringing the cost down to $59,990 drive-away.
Other models have been cut by about $3000 to $10,000.
The discounts come after new Hyundai Australia boss Don Romano criticised the brand’s EV sales performance.
“We have ground to make up,” Romano said in August.
“We do a terrible job with our EVs … we are not doing the job we should be.
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“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 electric car companies that are … doing a much better job with their EVs than they do with their ICE [internal combustion engine vehicles].
“We’re the opposite.”
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Hyundai has not cut the cost of its new Ioniq 9 seven-seater or the critically acclaimed Ioniq 5 N performance car.
A new Ioniq 6 sedan is just around the corner, where it will be joined by a sleek cousin to the 478kW Ioniq 5 N performance car.
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Originally published as Car giant’s huge move against Chinese threat
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