Sub-$40,000 target price confirmed for Hyundai Inster

For the first time, Hyundai’s top Australian management has officially confirmed on the record a sub-$40,000 target price for the all-new 2024 Hyundai Inster, which would make it one of Australia’s cheapest EVs and potentially the most affordable electric SUV.

But Hyundai Motor Company Australia chief operating officer John Kett has stopped short of saying that a Chinese EV-rivalling sub-$40K starting price will actually be achieved for the pint-size electric SUV.

“We still don’t know to be honest,” he told carsales.

“We’d love it to be sub-$40,000, but I think that is all I can say.

“I don’t want to say any more than that because I don’t want to upset people when the car actually arrives.

“We haven’t even started having the pricing conversation around the specs.”

Revealed simultaneously in Korea and Europe last month, the tiny four-seat electric SUV will arrive in Australia in early 2025 with two battery options.

A more rugged Inster Cross is also in the works.

If the sub-$40,000 base price target is hit, the Inster will become the first non-Chinese EV to break that pricing barrier in Australia.

Currently, the GWM Ora hatch is the cheapest EV sold in Australia, priced from $35,990 drive-away.

The BYD Dolphin hatch starts at $38,890 plus on-road costs, while the MG4 hatch and MG ZS EV small SUV both start from $39,990 drive-away, but a new-generation – and likely more expensive – ZS is due here by the end of this year.

Kett is acutely aware the impact a sub-$40,000 starting price for the Inster could have.

“Inster should give us a price entry point into the EV market and create a differentiated position if you are looking for a brand other than the Chinese to go EV,” he said.

Kett is also clearly conscious that the IONIQ 5 and 6 and the Kona Electric EVs have not delivered significant sales for Hyundai.

While EV-leader Tesla has sold 23,116 Model 3 sedans and Model Y SUVs so far in 2024, Hyundai has sold a combined 774 IONIQ 5 SUVs and IONIQ 6 sedans.

Add in the expanding Kona Electric line-up and Hyundai is estimating 5000 EV sales in 2024.

Updated versions of both the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 are due on sale in Australia in the second half of 2024.

But clearly, the more affordable Inster would boost Hyundai’s EV sales significantly.

“I think when you look at the business of EVs, ignoring passenger car and SUV, it really is about improving price accessibility, isn’t it?” Kett said.

It’s likely to be several months before Hyundai’s Australian arm has an accurate gauge of where Inster pricing will sit.

So far the key indicator has been the 25,000 Euro starting price that is being proposed for Europe, which translates to about $A40,000.

“I saw all the press and I saw the European launch and I saw the maths they did around the pricing they think they’ll get,” Kett said.

“And then someone does the maths calculation for Australia that never picks up transit, marketing and other local activities.”

Kett predicted HMCA would potentially have a better handle on local Inster pricing before the end of the third quarter of this year.

“We’ve started to see some pre-prods that are probably market saleable coming through and then we’ll start to get all the bills of materials and pricing recommendations in the next couple of months,” he said.

“I think Inster will meet everyone’s needs but we just need more time on pricing from an Australian perspective.”

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