Hyundai Australia turns 40 with 2.2 million vehicles sold but Kia now leads

Key takeaways

• Hyundai Australia marks 40 years and 2.2 million vehicles sold since 1986
• i30 is Hyundai's all-time best seller locally with over 450,000 units
• Kia now outsells Hyundai and leads on EV deliveries and warranty terms

Hyundai Australia is celebrating 40 years in the local market this August, having delivered more than 2.2 million vehicles since the first Excel hatchbacks arrived at a Perth dealership in 1986. Eight cars sold in month one. That's where the Hyundai Australia story begins.

Perth dealer John Hughes, alongside the late entrepreneur Alan Bond, secured the Australian distribution rights and opened the doors to the Korean brand from a single forecourt. By the end of 1986, 1,756 Excels had found homes.

How the Excel put Hyundai Australia on the map

More than 250,000 Excels eventually sold in Australia. Its famous $13,990 drive-away campaign didn't just shift cars, it changed how Australians bought them, helping normalise nationally advertised drive-away pricing across the industry during the 1990s. In some months of 1998, the Excel outsold both the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore.

"I've enjoyed a wonderful ride with the Hyundai brand, so much so that starting in the late '90s we were the biggest selling Hyundai dealership in the world for six consecutive years," said the now 90-year-old Hughes.

"The product has stood the test of time and has now grown to be a household name in Australia."

The i30 era and Hyundai's Australian peak

If the Excel introduced the brand to Australians, the i30 locked in its place. Arriving in 2007 and racking up 450,000 local sales since, it became Hyundai's best-selling Australian model of all time. Between 2015 and 2017, it topped the national sales chart outright seven times. In June 2016 alone, 6,432 i30s were delivered.

The brand hit 500,000 cumulative Australian sales in 2004 and one million in 2012. It peaked in 2015, delivering 102,004 vehicles to claim fourth place nationally with 8.8% market share.

Hyundai Australia today: hybrids up, EVs lagging

In 2025, Hyundai delivered 77,208 vehicles in Australia, up 7.7% year on year, sitting fifth overall with 6.2% market share. Hybrids were the clear bright spot, with 28,851 units sold and the brand ranking as Australia's second-largest hybrid supplier.

EVs told a different story. Just 1,882 battery-electric vehicles reached buyers in 2025, down 30%. Fellow Hyundai Motor Group brand Kia, by contrast, delivered 8,131 EVs in the same period, up 125.2%.

On warranty, Hyundai launched a seven-year unlimited kilometre warranty in 2025. The condition: coverage applies only when vehicles are serviced within the Hyundai dealer network.

"When I look back over the past 40 years, I don't just see vehicles or milestones, I see millions of Australians who gave Hyundai a chance," said Hyundai Motor Company Australia CEO Don Romano, who took the role in 2025.

"For many Australians, a Hyundai was their first new car. For others it became the family car they relied on, the car they learned to drive in or the vehicle that took them on holiday around the country. That's what we're celebrating."

Hyundai's conditional warranty is the asterisk on its 40th year

Hyundai pioneered the five-year warranty in Australia in 1999 and upgraded to unlimited kilometres in 2007, genuinely shifting the industry standard. But its current seven-year cover requires dealer-network servicing to remain valid. Fellow Hyundai Motor Group brand Kia's equivalent has carried no such condition since 2014. That gap matters more now than it did a decade ago, given Kia has overtaken Hyundai in overall Australian sales since 2022 and delivered more than four times as many EVs in 2025 (8,131 vs 1,882 deliveries). Hyundai's conditional warranty is a product-planning decision it has maintained while fellow Hyundai Motor Group brand Kia has run an unconditional offer for over a decade, and the widening sales trajectory suggests Australian buyers are making note of the difference.

Forty years and 2.2 million vehicles is a milestone worth celebrating. But with Kia holding the sales lead, the EV gap widening, and a warranty that still carries conditions Kia dropped back in 2014, Hyundai's next chapter in Australia has some very clear targets to chase.

Frequently asked questions

How long has Hyundai been in Australia?

Hyundai has been in Australia for 40 years, with the first Excel models sold from a Perth dealership in August 1986. The brand was introduced by local dealer John Hughes and entrepreneur Alan Bond.

What is Hyundai's best-selling car in Australia?

The i30 is Hyundai's best-selling model in Australia, with over 450,000 units sold since its 2007 launch. It was Australia's best-selling vehicle outright seven times between 2015 and 2017.

Does Hyundai have a seven-year warranty in Australia?

Yes. Hyundai launched a seven-year, unlimited kilometre warranty in Australia in 2025. Coverage requires vehicles to be serviced within the Hyundai dealer network to remain valid, unlike Kia's unconditional seven-year warranty introduced in 2014.