Hyundai to tackle EV rivals head on at New York auto show

NEW YORK – Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. are set to fully unveil their redesigned vehicles at the upcoming New York Auto Show as the two largest South Korean carmakers look to tackle their rivals head on in the North American market.

The motor show, back after being canceled for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will showcase about 200 models, a quarter of which will be eco-friendly cars such as electric vehicles and hybrids.

Of all the vehicles on display, about half will be sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks – models rapidly catching on among Americans.

Known for some of the biggest debuts in the US car market, the Big Apple’s motor show also features a track for EV test drives, a selection of supercars such as Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche and Rolls Royce, as well as fresh European and Asian model releases, organizers said.

This year’s show will be held from April 15-24 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, with the press days scheduled for April 13-14.

“While the New York Auto Show is a serious venue for potential car buyers to research and explore every new car under one roof, it is also a place of entertainment and fun,” said Mark Schienberg, the show president.

KIA NIRO, HYUNDAI PALISADE

At the auto show, Kia plans to showcase its restyled electric version of the Niro SUV, which first launched in the Korean market earlier this year.

Having received preorders for 17,600 Niro EVs, Kia plans to take the car to the US and then European markets in the coming months.

The company will also take the wraps off a remodeled version of its large-size flagship SUV Telluride at the show. The new Telluride features bold design elements inside and out, along with more capabilities, according to Kia.

With convenience and technology upgrades and room for seven to eight passengers, the car is available in an all-wheel-drive system, it said.

Kia also plans to showcase the EV9 concept, which it unveiled at the AutoMobility in Los Angeles last November.

The pure-electric seven-seat SUV prototype is pitched as the future flagship model of Kia’s all-electric lineup.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor will also premiere its redesigned large SUV Palisade. Last week, the company teased the revamped model, featuring a wider cascading grille form and vertically connected LED composite lights.

With the new models, Hyundai and Kia aim to compete against their Japanese rivals.

Toyota Motor Corp., a latecomer in the EV market, will showcase the bZ4X, its first mass-production EV, which made its public debut at the Los Angeles motor show last year.

Nissan Motor Co. will unveil the Ariya, its second EV. The rival to the Tesla Model Y and Volkswagen ID.4 will be the first model built on the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s new CMF-EV platform.

Other major EVs to be displayed include General Motor’s Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup truck, which boasts preorders of over 100,000 units ahead of its official launch next year. The pickup will rival Ford Motor’s F-150 Lightning, the electric version of North America’s top-selling vehicle.

HYUNDAI CHAIRMAN IN NEW YORK

To support Hyundai’s promotion of its vehicles, Hyundai Group Chairman Chung Euisun on Monday left for the US to attend the New York auto show.

His attendance at the motor show, the first since his appearance at the Frankfurt motor show in 2019, shows his keen interest in the US market, where the Korean automaker has been faring better than its rivals despite the protracted global automotive chip shortage.

Hyundai sold more than 1.48 million vehicles in the US last year, an all-time high figure that placed the company in the fifth spot in the US. Hyundai also trumped Japan’s Honda Motor in the US market for the first time in 35 years.

In the first quarter, Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 322,593 vehicles in the US, down 3.7% from a year earlier. That compared with an average 16.1% decline in sales volume for the major 10 automakers.

Write to Il-Gue Kim at Black0419@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.