In total 106.306 units of the Hyundai IONIQ trio were already sold worldwide by January 2018. However, these figures could be a lot higher if Hyundai had increased production to keep up with demand…
When Hyundai launched the IONIQ Hybrid in 2016, it was clear that it was aimed to compete with Toyota Prius, which is still the most sold hybrid car in the world. On the other hand, the electric variant was aimed to be an alternative to the Nissan Leaf.
The plug-in hybrid variant came later and its high price – combined with low electric range – makes it the most unappealing to consumers.
Anyway, Hyundai did a great job designing this eco-friendly trio.
Now lets see how well each variant sells in the domestic (South Korea) and foreign (export) market.
| Hyundai IONIQ Hybrid sales | ||||
| Year | ||||
| Market | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 (YTD) | Total |
| Domestic | 6 858 | 4 232 | 207 | 11 297 |
| Export | 14 622 | 43 896 | 4 006 | 62 524 |
| Total | 21 480 | 48 128 | 4 213 | 73 821 |
The hybrid variant is the one that Hyundai prefers to sell and that’s why it’s much cheaper than the other two. There’s no technical reason why the electric variant – with its small 28 kWh battery – costs around 10.000 € more than the complex hybrid variant in most European countries.
| Hyundai IONIQ Electric sales | ||||
| Year | ||||
| Market | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 (YTD) | Total |
| Domestic | 3 700 | 7 857 | 1 086 | 12 643 |
| Export | 2 015 | 9 464 | 873 | 12 352 |
| Total | 5 715 | 17 321 | 1 959 | 24 995 |
The electric variant is the second most sold worldwide, however it outsold the other two variants in South Korea, where governmental incentives to buy electric cars are working.
| Hyundai IONIQ PHEV sales | ||||
| Year | ||||
| Market | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 (YTD) | Total |
| Domestic | 0 | 129 | 5 | 134 |
| Export | 7 | 4 343 | 1 047 | 5 397 |
| Total | 7 | 4 472 | 1 052 | 5 531 |
The plug-in hybrid variant was the last to be made available and it’s the most expensive. Since plug-in hybrids don’t have much success in South Korea this variant is destined for exportation.
Summing up, this eco-friendly trio was very well engineered, but it’s undermined with low production rate and high waiting times. A decentralized manufacturing via multiple facilities (South Korea, China, North-America and Europe) is what this trio needs the most to thrive. It’s the decentralized manufacturing that makes the Nissan Leaf the best selling electric car.
Considering that Hyundai’s battery cell supplier (LG Chem) has already production facilities in those four regions I mentioned, it’s a shame that Hyundai doesn’t take advantage of it…
