Without aiming for profit, from the Palisade to the ELEXIO, can Hyundai Motor make a comeback in the Chinese market?

Image source: Duge

At the Chengdu Auto Show held at the end of last month, Hyundai Motor showcased models such as the new-generation Palisade and the Elantra N TCR Edition of the N brand.

Yin Yongyi, the vice president of the sales brand of Hyundai Motor in China, said in an interview, "We are very aware that the competition in the Chinese automotive market is extremely fierce. Whether it's the N brand or the Palisade, when we introduce them to the Chinese market, our primary goal is not to make a profit. Frankly speaking, we don't expect to achieve sales of tens of thousands of units as soon as they are launched. The awareness of the Hyundai brand in the Chinese market is still in the process of improvement. Therefore, we hope to truly reshape consumers' overall perception and the high - end image of the Hyundai brand through flagship products like the Palisade."

How will Hyundai Motor improve its brand awareness in the Chinese market?

Trading price for volume

Hyundai Motor also had a brief period of glory in the Chinese market. In October 2002, Hyundai Motor cooperated with BAIC to establish Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd., officially entering the Chinese market.

At the end of the same year, the first Beijing Hyundai Sonata rolled off the production line. In 2003, the sales volume of the Beijing Hyundai Sonata reached 52,000 units, accounting for 10% of the B - class car market share. The Elantra model launched at the end of 2003 exceeded 100,000 units in sales in 2004, becoming the champion of the annual single - sedan model sales in China.

Relying on the cost - performance advantage, Beijing Hyundai successively launched popular models such as the Sonata, Elantra, Verna, and Tucson. In 2013, Beijing Hyundai's annual sales volume exceeded one million units for the first time, becoming the third joint - venture automaker after Volkswagen and General Motors to achieve annual sales of over one million units in China. In 2016, its sales volume rose to 1.14 million units, reaching a historical high.

However, with the rise of domestic independent brands, the sales volume of Beijing Hyundai has been continuously declining. In 2017, its sales volume dropped to over 820,000 units, and by 2024, the sales volume was only 154,000 units.

In 2025, the sales volume of Beijing Hyundai has slightly recovered - the cumulative sales volume in the first half of the year was about 100,000 units, among which the sales volume in June was 21,713 units, a month - on - month increase of 66%. This is mainly the result of trading price for volume. In February 2025, Beijing Hyundai launched the "New Year Refresh Fixed - price Promotion". The 11th - generation Sonata was priced at 119,800 yuan, a direct reduction of 30,000 yuan; the all - new Tucson L was priced at 129,800 yuan, a direct reduction of 40,000 yuan; the Custo was priced at 139,800 yuan, a direct reduction of 42,000 yuan; the 5th - generation Santa Fe started at 175,700 yuan and customers could enjoy double the residual value of their old cars for purchase. In June, Beijing Hyundai cut prices again, and the all - new Tucson L was priced from 119,800 yuan.

It is worth mentioning that according to Hyundai Motor's financial report for the second quarter of 2025, its global sales volume in the second quarter was 1.0658 million units, a year - on - year increase of 0.8%. It can be seen that the Chinese market contributes relatively little to Hyundai Motor's sales volume.

However, the strategy of trading price for volume cannot bring long - term sales growth. The problem with Beijing Hyundai is that its existing models cannot meet the needs of the Chinese market.

According to the official website of Beijing Hyundai, its current models for sale include the 11th - generation Sonata, the all - new Elantra, the 5th - generation Santa Fe, the all - new Tucson L, and the MUFASA Musso, all of which are fuel - powered vehicles. Currently, the Chinese market is centered around new - energy competition. According to data from the Passenger Car Association, the retail penetration rate of new - energy vehicles in the overall domestic passenger car market in July was 54.0%, a 2.7 - percentage - point increase compared to the same period last year. In domestic retail sales in July, the penetration rate of new - energy vehicles among independent brands was 74.9%; among luxury cars, it was 30%; while among mainstream joint - venture brands, it was only 6.7%.

To improve its brand awareness in the Chinese market, Hyundai Motor must accelerate the layout of new - energy vehicle models.

In December 2024, BAIC Motor issued an announcement, stating that BAIC Investment and Hyundai Motor had reached an important agreement. Both parties will contribute 548 million US dollars each, jointly injecting 1.095 billion US dollars into Beijing Hyundai. The injection will be carried out in installments. After the injection is completed, the registered capital of Beijing Hyundai will increase to 4.074 billion US dollars, and Beijing Hyundai will still be 50% owned by BAIC Investment and Hyundai Motor respectively.

BAIC Motor said that based on the strategy of "Developing globally from China", Beijing Hyundai will leverage its own system - capability advantages, the support of its shareholders' new - energy technologies, and resource advantages to quickly achieve the transformation towards new - energy and intelligent vehicles, and launch more products that meet the needs of Chinese consumers; in the international market, it will continue to expand its export scale. The joint growth of the two shareholders will help Beijing Hyundai maintain capital stability in the short term and implement its transformation and development strategy through investment in new technologies and products in the medium and long term.

This capital injection is also regarded by the outside world as an indication that Beijing Hyundai will speed up its new - energy progress.

Starting to focus on new - energy vehicles

To stabilize its position in the Chinese market, Beijing Hyundai has defined 2025 as the first year of its new - energy brand. It will use a dual - matrix of new - energy and fuel - powered vehicles to build the brand image of "Genuinely High - Quality Cars, Beijing Hyundai".

In April 2025, Beijing Hyundai held a brand - strategy communication meeting and the global premiere of its first pure - electric platform SUV, the ELEXIO, in Shanghai, and officially launched the strategy of "For China in China, for the World".

In terms of localization, it will establish a China Strategy Division to more flexibly respond to the Chinese market; secondly, it will cooperate with top domestic technology companies such as CATL, Botai, and Haomo to introduce cutting - edge technologies and meet the unique needs of Chinese consumers; finally, in the next four years, it plans to launch 2 to 3 new - energy vehicles each year, covering various models such as sedans, SUVs, and MPVs, achieving full coverage of pure - electric, hybrid, and extended - range technologies.

In fact, in the past few years, Beijing Hyundai has set new - energy strategies. For example, the NEW new - energy plan launched in 2016 covered research, development, and investment in four major fields: HEV, PHEV, EV, and fuel cells. It planned to launch 9 new - energy vehicle models before 2020, and the sales of new - energy vehicle models would account for more than 10% in the future; the "2025 New - Direction Plan" launched in 2022 mentioned that it aimed to fully hybridize its fuel - powered vehicles by 2025.

Under the guidance of these strategies, Beijing Hyundai mass - produced several new - energy vehicle products, including the Elantra EV, Kona Electric, FE Pure Electric, Elantra PHEV, and Sonata PHEV. However, due to poor results, they were gradually taken off the market.

It is worth mentioning that Hyundai Motor introduced the IONIQ 5 and the hydrogen - fuel - cell SUV Nexo in the form of imports, but no sales data for these models were collected on major automotive platforms, and they have a low profile in the market.

With the successive failures of its new - energy attempts, there is a big question mark over whether Beijing Hyundai can achieve its new goals set in 2025.

At the beginning of August, Hyundai Motor officially launched the hybrid version of the Palisade in China, which will be introduced into the domestic market for sale in the form of imports. It is reported that the cumulative global sales of the first - generation Palisade have exceeded one million units. However, for the fully upgraded new - generation Palisade, Hyundai Motor has not set a clear sales target in the Chinese market, but hopes to cover a wider range of family - user groups. The official shows that the new - generation Palisade is an SUV model with a pre - sale price starting at 293,800 yuan.

The ELEXIO series of pure - electric vehicles created by Beijing Hyundai may be launched in September. It is built on Hyundai Motor's global dedicated electric - vehicle platform (E - GMP, Electric Global Modular Platform) and is the first model on this platform. According to media reports, the Beijing Hyundai ELEXIO is a pure - electric SUV with a pure - electric range of over 700 km. The industry speculates that its price may be between 100,000 and 150,000 yuan.

From the hybrid version of the Palisade introduced in the form of imports to the ELEXIO series launched by Beijing Hyundai, they all reflect Hyundai Motor's determination to enter the Chinese new - energy vehicle market. However, the competition in China is currently fierce, and new models are emerging one after another. Whether Hyundai Motor can enhance its brand influence in China and boost its sales volume with these new models remains unknown.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Visibility in the Auto Circle". Author: Wei He. Republished by 36Kr with permission.