Hyundai eyes greater SUV market share with new Kona EV

Hyundai Motor Co. on Tuesday unveiled the all-new Kona Electric, its first fully revamped compact sport utility vehicle in five years, as the top South Korean automaker aims to grab a greater share of the global electric SUV market.

The second-generation Kona EV, an upgrade to its predecessor launched in 2018, offers advanced safety and convenience features and a class-leading range, the company said.

The new Kona Electric can run 410 km on a single charge, longer than the previous model’s 406 km, it said.

The company said it is rolling out the new model in line with its electrification strategy announced on March 2022, which will bring 11 new Hyundai EVs to market by 2030.

While unveiling the new model at its digital world premiere on Tuesday, Hyundai said the all-new Kona Electric is equipped with advanced safety systems, including Level 2 autonomous driving, forward collision avoidance assist (FCA) and blind-spot view monitoring (BVM).

The new Kona is the first Hyundai model to apply its new connected car navigation cockpit (CCNC), which provides advanced graphics on the display panel, it said.

“The Kona Electric will play a major role alongside our IONIQ models in reinforcing Hyundai’s EV leadership. The new model builds on the great reputation of the first–generation Kona Electric and is designed and engineered to lead the competition with its many outstanding features,” said Hyundai Motor Chief Executive Chang Jae-hoon.

BEST-SELLING MODEL

Since its launch in 2018, Hyundai’s electric version of the Kona compact SUV has sold 259,206 units globally, including 34,274 vehicles in Korea. The figure represents the carmaker’s highest electric model sales.

In January, Hyundai said it would launch three versions of the all-new Kona model: an electric car, an internal combustion engine (ICE) model and a sporty N Line.

The all-new Kona’s pixelated horizontal lamp is a Hyundai family icon that is also applied to other models, including the Staria recreational vehicle and the Grandeur sedan.

Unlike other Hyundai EVs, which mostly use battery cells made by LG Energy Solution Ltd., the Kona Electric sits on nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) battery cells manufactured by China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) to cut costs.

CATL’s NCM battery is also used in Kia’s Niro EV.

Hyundai said the all-new Kona EV will hit the domestic roads in April and be available in Europe in the third quarter and the US in the fourth quarter.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.