Six-month wait for Hyundai i30 N

Australian buyers ordering a new Hyundai i30 N today won’t get the keys until Christmas as demand for the Korean brand’s inaugural hot hatch heats up.

“Very strong demand” for the 202kW five-door hatch – which is priced from just $39,990 (plus on-road costs) – here and overseas has caught Hyundai unaware, with surging German sales in particular forcing the Czech Republic plant to increase production.

“Demand for the car has really outstripped our expectations, especially in Germany. We really underestimated the demand,” said Hyundai Motor Company Australia’s public relations general manager, Bill Thomas.

“There’s only a certain number we can make, but the factory has been great and agreed to make more for us.”

Hyundai’s Nošovice plant is also gearing up to produce the upcoming i30 N Fastback, as production of the Veloster N ramps up in Ulsan, South Korea. Both are expected to go on sale here.

The new models could lead to an even longer waiting time for the i30 N, even before it becomes available with an automatic transmission, which could also be pushed back as a result of demand for Hyundai’s first N model.

For now, the i30 N is only available with a six-speed manual transmission, in contrast to its most direct competitor, the Volkswagen Golf GTI, which for MY19 will be auto-only.

The belated arrival of Hyundai’s eight-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT) in the i30 N is likely to increase sales further when it becomes available late next year at the earliest.

“Obviously the DCT will help our volume, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s looking like that won’t be a reality until late 2019, and it’s something that can move depending on how everything else is going,” said Thomas.

“But it’s pretty obvious the lack of an auto is not the problem – a six-month waiting list for the i30 N is a nice problem to have, even if it’s not ideal.”

Thomas said Australian buyers favour the highly specified i30 N Luxury Pack with sunroof, to the tune of 70 per cent – despite costing $44,990 plus ORCs, or $45,485 with metallic paint.