Hyundai gearing up for

New Tucson, i20, Kona and Bayon, plus Ioniq 3 EV, coming in 18-month onslaught

- Phil McNamara [e-mail]

HYUNDAI is unleashing a "product offensive" that will renew its heartland cars, introduce an electric hatchback and facelift the Kona, following a "solid" European performance in 2025.

"We'll be launching five major new models in the next 18 months," Hyundai Europe CEO Xavier Martinet said at the firm's results conference in Frankfurt. "[We're] talking about loniq 3, [new] i20, new Bayon, new Kona, new Tucson. These really are volume cars [that] will help us cover pretty well the European market in terms of bodystyle [and] powertrain. It's an opportunity to grow."

Hyundai Europe delivered a stable performance in 2025, with just over 600,000 registrations, up one per cent. Crucially, sales of hybrids and EVs contributed 43 per cent of that volume, helping Hyundai with its "CO2 emissions management" to avoid regulatory fines, as well as delivering decent "sales and profits", Martinet told us. "It's a very solid foundation for [evolving] ourselves in the next few months and years."

Summer 2026: Hyundai Ioniq 3

Martinet confirmed the production version of the Concept Three EV, the loniq 3 (see opposite), will be unveiled at Milan Design Week in April. The Kia EV3 and Volkswagen ID.3 rival is being intentionally premiered at the event.