“When I was attending the global reveal of the Ioniq 5, I was completely blown away. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Jose Muñoz, CEO of Hyundai Motor North America, told Automotive News in mid-May.
Although Hyundai sells EV versions of its Ioniq hatchback and Kona crossover based on legacy vehicles, the dedicated E-GMP electric platform from Hyundai Motor Group marks a watershed, Muñoz said.
Hyundai is launching an EV subbrand also called Ioniq and has three models on the way that use the E-GMP architecture: the Ioniq 5 this year, the Ioniq 6 sedan in 2022 and the Ioniq 7 three-row crossover in 2024. Those first three vehicles represent dedicated EV alternatives to the brand’s Tucson compact crossover, Sonata midsize sedan and Palisade midsize crossover. In the near future, Hyundai will have a broad EV lineup.
“Ioniq 5 is the first Ioniq vehicle as a subbrand of Hyundai,” Muñoz said. “But not only do we have Ioniqs — the 5 and the 6 and the 7 — but we are also introducing 12 battery-EV models [globally].”
The company plans to cut its lineup of gasoline-powered vehicles in half, Reuters reported last week, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Muñoz said that Hyundai plans to make EVs in the U.S. next year and has space at its Montgomery, Ala., factory to expand. But he didn’t add much detail to Hyundai Motor Group’s recently announced U.S. investment plans. The group, which includes Hyundai, Kia and Genesis, is developing 25 EVs by 2025.
“We have announced that we will start producing EVs in the U.S. in 2022,” Muñoz said. “We will utilize existing plants to move fast. And then we will see, because the $7.4 billion [investment] is through 2025.”
