Recalls are hurting the vehicle’s and brand’s image.
Hyundai wants to focus on the Ioniq 5.
Despite being Hyundai’s best-selling EV, the Kona EV will no longer be sold on the domestic Korean market. Sales dropped considerably last year and have come to a relative halt in the first quarters of 2021.
Massive recalls involving battery fires have affected buyers’ confidence in the vehicle. Up to 75,680 Kona EVs were recalled back in February. This isn’t the only reason why the Kona EV has been pulled from the domestic lineup. More recently, Hyundai’s introduced the Ioniq 5 and the automaker will now focus on this all-new EV.
“The production of Kona EVs has been halted since March in consideration of the domestic demand and to realign the assembly line for new EVs,” a company spokesperson said as reported by Business Standard. “(The company) will continue to export Kona EVs to overseas markets.”
Deliveries of the Kona EV dropped by 40% in Korea and nearly 18% globally in the first quarter of 2021. Last October, Hyundai launched the facelifted Kona however this does not seem to have helped the vehicle.
