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Hyundai plans new model offensive as Europe boss believes brand ‘can do better’ in region
Updated: Yesterday 15:31
► Steady sales figures for Hyundai in Europe in 2025
► High hopes for imminent small electric Ioniq 3
► Five all-new models in the next 18 months
His company has sales figures many rivals would die for, but Hyundai Europe boss Xavier Martinet has no truck with complacency.
‘We have a strong foundation – but that doesn’t mean we can stop working,’ he told journalists at Hyundai Europe’s annual press conference, announcing ‘stable’ sales figures for the Hyundai brand in Europe in 2025.
It sold 603,542 passenger cars in Europe, up 1 per cent, taking 4.2 per cent market share. For electrified vehicles, its share was 4.4 per cent, with a 24 per cent volume growth. Its pure EV sales were up 48 per cent – mostly thanks to the Inster. Hyundai took 4.7 per cent of the market for private buyers and 3.2 per cent of fleet sales.
The Santa Fe and Ioniq 9 didn’t sell in huge quantities, but they achieved success of a different kind: stealing buyers previously loyal to other brands.
In 2025, the UK was Hyundai Europe’s biggest market with 93,124 sales – just franctionally behind its best year of 2017. That performance promotes it from ninth to sixth place among manufacturers. Its best UK seller was the Tucson.
Those are impressive figures in a tough market, with more competition than ever, and more uncertainty than ever, with the EU easing pressure to go all electric.
‘I believe we can do much better than we’re doing now. The market share in Europe is below the global market share. We’re trying to invest more, to make a difference. I’m looking to seize these opportunities,’ said Martinet.
He prefers to look to the future, not dwell on the past. He’s promising that by 2027 every model sold in Europe will have an electrified version available. And he has high hopes for the small electric Ioniq 3, which will be unveiled in April, having been previewed by the Concept Three. In the next 18 months, there will be five all-new vehicles including the Ioniq 3, as well as a new-generation Tucson and Bayon, Kona and i20.
Despite Europe’s lessening of the focus on EVs, Martinet doesn’t doubt that increased electrification as a route to lowering CO2 emissions remains the plan.
‘Politically, what I want to see is stability. We know we have to go in this direction. But different groups have different priorities – politicians, the economy, the customers.
‘Electrification is happening, so we have to be prepared for that.’ And Hyundai, thanks to its global size, is better able than most to be flexible. ‘We have the R&D capacity to invest in different powertrains for different markets.’
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