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| Seen above are the rendered image of Hyundai Motor's IONIQ series electric vehicles which will debut over the next few years. From left are the IONIQ 6 midsize sedan, the IONIQ 7 large SUV and the IONIQ 5 crossover. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor |
By Nam Hyun-woo
Hyundai Motor will launch the IONIQ 5 electric crossover next year, based on the 45 concept EV unveiled at the International Motor Show Germany last year, the Korean automaker said Monday.
The new car will be followed by the IONIQ 6 midsize electric sedan, which will be launched in 2022. It will be based on the Prophecy concept revealed online in March. The IONIQ 7 large electric SUV will hit the market in 2024, the company said.
Hyundai Motor already has IONIQ vehicles in the variants of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and EV. As the company said those vehicles will not be included in the new brand, the production of the existing ones is expected to be discontinued model by model. The company already discontinued the IONIQ hybrid earlier this year.
The new IONIQ series will be all based on the company's new EV-only platform, E-GMP. The carmaker said they will be equipped with batteries and platform technologies allowing vehicles to be charged to 80 percent in 20 minutes and drive at least 450 kilometers on a single charge.
Though Hyundai Motor said the IONIQ series will be operated as a separate brand, they will carry Hyundai Motor's emblem, unlike the company's luxury brand Genesis which has its own badge.
Hyundai Motor said it decided to launch a separate EV brand as part of its strategy to focus on EVs in the global market. According to market tracker SNE Research, Hyundai Motor was the world's sixth-largest EV maker in terms of the number of vehicles sold in January to March this year, up from ninth last year.
For a greater presence in the global EV market, the company said it seeks to sell 560,000 EVs in 2025, reaching 1 million in the accumulated number of EVs sold by Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors by that year.
Some analysts and industry watchers have been raising questions on Hyundai Motor's future mobility strategies, saying the company has a relatively weaker portfolio in EVs, while placing many investments into hydrogen fuel-cell EVs.
Investors welcomed about the Korean carmaker's unveiling, as Hyundai's share price climbed sharply on the country's main bourse of KOSPI. It was trading at 167,000 won as of 2:30 p.m., Monday, up 13.61 percent from a session earlier.
On a related note, Nikola Founder Trevor Milton said in an interview with local media outlet that he would like to cooperate with Hyundai Motor, and already made suggestions twice. Regarding the specifics of "suggestions," which the Nikola founder mentioned, Hyundai Motor declined to comment.
Nikola, a company that designs and intends to produce electric semi-trucks, has already partnered with European commercial vehicle manufacturer Iveco to produce its battery-electric Nikola Tre trucks in Europe. Like Hyundai, Nikola, dubbed the "next Tesla," plans to produce its long-haul Nikola Two semi using hydrogen fuel cells likely to begin production within the next two years.
