HYUNDAI Australia is getting ready to quadruple its hybrid providing within the coming months, with the model asserting it should quickly add petrol-electric variations of its Kona small SUV, i30 small sedan and Tucson medium SUV.
The information got here on the launch of the new-generation Kona, which can provide a broader vary of powertrains than ever, together with a brand new petrol-electric hybrid mannequin, due right here in just a few months.
Becoming a member of that mannequin would be the first-ever hybrid i30 sedan, adopted by a petrol-electric tackle the favored Tucson SUV, which is predicted to reach early subsequent yr.
Hyundai Australia chief working officer John Kett, advised media on the Kona launch that hybrid represents a sizeable alternative for the model, and that Toyota Australia has paved the best way for it to probably be extra profitable than it might need in any other case been.
“We need to see the quantity that we’re getting as we speak in Tucson, and see if hybrid can really develop it, not essentially cannibalise it,” stated Mr Kett.
“Apart from asserting as we speak that we will have one, we have not gotten to pricing. Our aspiration of what we need to obtain? I do not suppose you’d should be working inside to work out what (we) wish to do,” he stated.
GoAuto understands that Hyundai is more likely to comply with the identical type of product planning with the brand new Tucson HEV hybrid as is seen with the Santa Fe HEV.
In that mannequin line, solely the highest two specs may be specified with hybrid energy: the hybrid-powered Elite ($63,000 earlier than on-road prices) and Highlander ($69,550 + ORC) that each carry a premium of $3000 over the diesel equivalents – which in flip works out to be a major $6500 premium over the equal petrol V6 fashions.
What this implies for the i30 Sedan vary stays unclear, because it kicks off at $26,000 + ORC for the Lively and jumps to $32,000 + ORC for both the Elite or the turbocharged N Line whereas the N Line Premium is $39,000 + ORC.
Provided that within the Kona vary the hybrid premium is $4000 over the non-turbo-petrol fashions, it might stand to motive that the hybrid variations of the i30 Sedan could comply with go well with, giving Hyundai a suitably priced competitor to the Toyota Corolla hybrid sedan (from $31,680 to $39,620 + ORC).
Apparently, the hybrid front-wheel drive model of the new-gen Kona is positioned at parity with the turbo-petrol all-wheel drive mannequin – if consumers elect to have the N Line model of the hybrid Kona.
Hyundai Australia product planning supervisor, Chris Saltapidas, stated the model has excessive aspirations for hybrid take-up within the new-gen Kona vary – although he added that 2023 won’t give indication of the true potential for the hybrid fashions as there’s a staggered rollout of the mannequin vary.
Petro Kona variants are arriving first, with hybrid and battery electrical choices arriving later this yr.
“By the tip of subsequent yr, we’re hoping that hybrid would be the main quantity,” stated Mr Saltapidas, who indicated that Hyundai anticipated 40-50 per cent of new-generation Kona gross sales to be petrol-electric in Australia.
“If we take a look at, say, N Line pack, the place we’re additionally focusing on a very excessive take fee, as you noticed earlier, for the entire enterprise, we’re doing over 28 per cent. For N Line on (first-generation) Kona in the mean time is slightly below 20 per cent, however it’s restricted to only one powertrain and now that we provide it throughout all the things, we would like to broaden that.”
The brand new hybrid-powered Kona small SUV is priced simply $4000 over the entry-level 2.0-litre non-turbo petrol model, with an attractive entry-level electrified worth level of $36,000 + ORC, whereas the Kona Premium, which provides various specification differentiators, is a $40,000 + ORC proposition.
It’s a transfer that sees the Korean model goal the likes of the Toyota Corolla Cross hybrid (from $35,550 + ORC) and GWM Haval Jolion hybrid (from $36,990 drive-away), and Hyundai Australia expects the hybrid mannequin might ultimately type the vast majority of gross sales throughout the petrol-derived mannequin vary.
The Kona hybrid fashions use a 1.6-litre non-turbo four-cylinder petrol engine, teamed to an electrical motor built-in right into a six-speed dual-clutch automated gearbox, mixed with a 1.32kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The mixed outputs for the powertrain are 104kW of energy and 265Nm of torque, and the official mixed cycle gasoline consumption determine is 3.9 litres per 100km.
It’s anticipated that the identical powertrain will function within the facelifted hybrid i30 sedan, as the 2 fashions share a platform. Additional, it’s the identical hybrid powertrain that’s seen within the Kia Niro SUV which, intriguingly, is available in at a a lot increased worth level (from $44,380 + ORC).
