Podcast: Hyundai has “more aggressive sales target than Kona”– Darren Palmer interview

We had a chance to record a special edition of the Electrek Podcast this week, as we were able to chat with John Shon and Miles Johnson from Hyundai about the newly launched Ioniq 5 CUV. As the flagship EV to launch under Hyundai's newly rebranded Ioniq name, this compact SUV has already gotten some great feedback from our readers, along with some questions.

We tried to get as much information out of the Hyundai team as possible in our quick interview; some questions were answered, but some will require more of a wait... especially regarding what the Ioniq 5 will cost.

Production on the Ioniq 5 is slotted for August of this year in South Korea with plans to begin deliveries in the US by early October. According to John Shon, Senior Group Manager of product planning for Hyundai Motor America, the rollout will begin in ten ZEV states in addition to other big market states like Texas, Illinois, Florida, and Georgia. The rollout should reach the rest of the US in early 2022.

When asked what sort of volume Hyundai was planning to roll out with the Ioniq 5, the Hyundai team unfortunately would not disclose any numbers. However, Shon did speak to Hyundai's sales approach to the Ioniq 5:

We are definitely more aggressive in regard to the sales target of this vehicle, than let's say, the Kona Electric. We feel like this is the next generation of electric vehicles, not just for us but how it stands out in the marketplace.

Shon went on to elaborate about how the Ioniq 5's dual motor AWD allows for more control in inclement weather, allowing Hyundai to be more bullish in the market potential and sales approach to a wider group of US consumers.

As you'll notice in the podcast, we pried the Hyundai guys multiple times for any sort of hint at pricing on this EV with no such luck. All we were able to gather is the same details we've previously reported - Hyundai plans to remain competitive with other CUVs on the market, especially Ford's Mustang Mach-E and Volkswagen's ID.4. Shon elaborates:

You know, we're working on it quite diligently. We're looking at, not just a competitive environment, but what customers are willing to pay. We're working on it, it won't be available right now but it will be closer to wholesale release of the vehicle which is anywhere from late September to early October.

In previous conversation with Electrek, Shon has mentioned August for a potential pricing release too.

Although the Ioniq 5 officially "launched" in the US today, Hyundai was not sharing any numbers yet on the sort of interest the vehicle has gathered from consumers. We are very curious what sort of reservations this EV garners, but we do not have this information at this time. We will stay in touch with Hyundai for updates however.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onwimq34NsM

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