Hyundai is marking its 40th anniversary in Australia by reflecting on its growth, celebrating its local history and highlighting its milestones and transition toward electric vehicles. The brand’s Australian story began in August 1986, when a single dealership in Perth started selling the then little-known Hyundai Excel hatchback.
Four decades later, Hyundai has sold more than 2.2 million vehicles in Australia and has become one of the country’s best-known automotive brands.
On the occasion, Hyundai Australia CEO Don Romano said, “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.”
“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.”
How Hyundai entered Australia
The South Korean carmaker arrived Down Under when Perth dealer John Hughes, together with the late entrepreneur Alan Bond, secured the Australian distribution rights for Hyundai. Hughes, who is 90 years old now, still supports the brand he helped establish.
Remembering the old days, he recalled, “I can remember that we only sold a total of eight cars in our very first month back in 1986, however by the end of the year a respectable 1,756 Hyundai cars had been sold.”
“I’ve enjoyed a wonderful ride with the Hyundai brand, so much so that starting in the late 90’s we were the biggest selling Hyundai dealership in the world for 6 consecutive years. The product has stood the test of time and has now grown to be a household name in Australia. It gives me a great feeling of pride every time I see one of my valued customers driving a brand-new Hyundai off our showroom floor.”
The Hyundai Excel changed the brand’s fortunes
Hyundai says its Australian success extends beyond sales figures and that the marque earned trust by continually changing what buyers could expect from a car brand.
That journey started with the Hyundai Excel, an affordable and dependable hatchback that introduced many Australians to Hyundai and became a cultural icon during the 1990s. More than 250,000 Excel models were sold in Australia.
Hyundai also highlighted the famous “$13,990 drive-away” advertising campaign that helped popularise nationally advertised drive-away pricing.
Australian engineering helped shape Hyundai models
Hyundai says Australia’s demanding road conditions influenced vehicle development. What began with locally developed suspension and steering tuning, evolved into closer collaboration between Australian and global engineering teams. The company says that willingness to adapt became a defining part of its Australian operations.
The i30 became Hyundai’s biggest success
The Excel introduced Hyundai to Australians, but the i30 established the brand as a mainstream choice.
The Hyundai i30 arrived in 2007 and went on to become Hyundai Australia’s best-selling model and more than 450,000 i30s sold locally.
At its peak, the i30 topped Australia’s monthly new-vehicle sales charts seven times between 2015 and 2017. Its strongest month came in June 2016, when Hyundai sold 6,432 i30s and grabbed the title of Australia’s best-selling new vehicle for the fourth consecutive month.
Hyundai says the i30 proved the brand competed on quality, safety, refinement and value rather than price alone.
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Hyundai reshaped vehicle ownership
Hyundai says its reputation also grew through changes to the ownership experience as it became the first mainstream automotive brand in Australia to introduce a 5-year warranty in 1999. The company extended that warranty to unlimited kilometres in 2007.
According to Hyundai, those moves raised customer expectations and influenced many other manufacturers.
Today, Hyundai offers a year-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty when owners service their vehicles within its dealer network.
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Hyundai’s focus shifted to performance and electrification
Hyundai also highlighted several milestones that helped shape its technology strategy. The company launched the N high-performance brand in Australia, invested in hydrogen fuel cell technology, and pursued sustainable mobility before EVs became mainstream.
Hyundai’s EV milestones
Hyundai says electrification now sits at the centre of its plans. The brand highlighted the key EV milestones:
- 2018: Ioniq became Australia’s first model to offer hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery-electric powertrains under one nameplate
- 2019: Kona Electric launched
- 2021: Nexo became the first hydrogen-powered vehicle certified for sale in Australia
The company also highlighted several award-winning EVs.
The Ioniq 5 won both the Carsales Car of the Year and News Corp Car of the Year awards in Australia before claiming the 2022 World Car of the Year title as part of a clean sweep across the event’s three major categories.
The Ioniq 5 N followed by winning the 2024 World Performance Car award and becoming Hyundai’s first winner of the Wheels Car of the Year award.
Hyundai says the model challenged expectations for high-performance EVs.
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