Hyundai to release 3 models under IONIQ EV brand by 2024

SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co. said Monday it will launch three all-electric models under its EV brand IONIQ by 2024 to gain a share in the rapidly growing EV market.

The first model to be released under the IONIQ EV brand will be the Ioniq 5 crossover utility vehicle, the company said in a statement.

Hyundai, the country's biggest carmaker, plans to launch the compact CUV next year, the Ioniq 6 midsize sedan in 2022 and the Ioniq 7 large SUV in 2024, it said.

Hyundai will begin using alphanumeric names like its bigger rivals, such as BMW, whose models have a Series No. 1-8.

Hyundai has sold environmentally friendly models -- the Ioniq gasoline hybrid, the Ioniq plug-in hybrid and the Ioniq all-electric car -- with the same name of the Ioniq since 2016.

"The existing models with the badge of Ioniq will go separately with the IONIQ EV brand lineup," a company spokesman said over the phone.

In 2009, its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. started to add numbers to its K Series models, such as the K3 compact car, the K5 midsize sedan, the K7 large sedan and the K9 flagship sedan.

Hyundai ranked sixth in EV sales in the January-May period from ninth a year earlier. It sold a total of 26,500 EVs, including plug-in hybrid models, down 2 percent from 27,000 units in the same period, according to market tracker SNE Research.

Hyundai aims to sell 560,000 EVs to strengthen its presence in the global EV market by 2025.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
(END)