The hot Hyundai Ioniq 6 N will arrive in Australia earlier than expected but, in contrast, its tamer electric sedan counterparts have been delayed.
“6 N is going to be here first half of next year, and we’re still working on our plan for the rest of the 6 range,” said a Hyundai Australia spokesperson at the launch of the new Palisade large SUV.
The new Ioniq 6 N had previously been expected on sale here during the second half of 2026, while the core Ioniq 6 lineup was expected to be released during the second half of this year in facelifted guise.
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It appears Hyundai could be evaluating what the updated Ioniq 6 lineup will look like in Australia.
It’s no secret the slinky battery-powered sedan – or ‘streamliner’, in Hyundai parlance – hasn’t been a big seller locally, which is not altogether surprising given the general market trend away from sedans.
Hyundai Australia is still trying to shift model year 2023 (MY23) stock of the electric vehicle (EV), announcing less than a month ago it was offering discounts of between $27,564 and $34,142 to move metal.
The Korean brand offered the pre-facelift Ioniq 6 in Dynamiq, Techniq and Epiq trim levels locally. The facelifted sedan will, for the first time, be offered in sporty-looking N Line trim, though Hyundai Australia has yet to confirm which variants will be offered here beyond the N.
The facelifted Ioniq 6 features sleeker front-end styling, as well as tweaks to the rear and, inside the cabin, a redesigned steering wheel and centre console, as well as a larger climate control display.
It’s also available with a new, larger 84kWh battery, replacing the old 77.4kWh unit. This larger pack is the only one offered in the new N flagship.
The electric sports sedan pumps out 448kW of power (478kW in N Grin Boost mode) and 770Nm of torque, and it’s claimed to complete the 0-100km/h dash in just 3.2 seconds.
Redesigned suspension geometry is said to bring a lower centre of gravity and is tuned to deliver more high-speed stability and mechanical cornering grip, with adaptive dampers fitted as standard.
Also standard are 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped in 275/35 Pirelli tyres, which Hyundai says were developed especially for the Ioniq 6 N, as well as upgraded brakes with four-piston calipers and 400mm rotors up front, and single-piston/360mm units at the rear.
To the end of September, Hyundai has delivered just 93 Ioniq 6 sedans this year, down 71.8 per cent on the same period last year.
That puts it well behind not only the related Ioniq 5 (535 deliveries), which rides the same platform but has more of a crossover shape that has wider appeal to Australian buyers. It also sees the Ioniq 6 outpaced by rivals like the BYD Seal (2955 sales, down 44.3 per cent year-to-date) and Tesla Model 3 (5416, down 61.5 per cent).
It could be more than just the sedan body style to blame for slow Ioniq 6 sales.
“I was so impressed that we made it look like it always should have been like that, and now I’m thinking, ‘Why did we do it like that before?’,” said the senior vice president and head of Hyundai Design Center, Simon Loasby, to Australian media at the updated Ioniq 6’s reveal in April.
“Given time, you can always find something that you can refine and tweak… Taking elements away often gives you more, and that’s what happened here.
“It’s more an acknowledgement that we had more time just to keep going and improving. It looks lower, wider, cleaner.”
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