Hyundai just hit 40 years in Australia. That is a long time in automotive decades. The brand delivered over 2.2 million cars to Australian buyers during that period. It started small. Modest.
John Hughes and Alan Bond brought it here. Hughes was a Western Australian dealer. Bond was… well, he was Alan Bond. They secured the distribution rights. The first Excel arrived in Perth in August 1986. Only eight sold that month.
By the end of the year? 1,756.
“I’ve enjoyed a wonderful ride,” says Hughes now. He is 90. “We were the biggest selling Hyundai dealership in the world for six consecutive years starting in the late ’90s.”
The product stood the test of time. It became a household name.
From Excel to Household Name
The Excel didn’t just launch the brand. It put it on the map. Aggressively.
It was sharply priced. In some months of 1988 (source says 1998, but Excel launched ’86 and peaked early, likely typo in source for ’88-’89 era given Falcon/Commodore rivalry context, but sticking to text: 1998 ), it became the best-selling model in Australia. It outsold the Ford Falcon. The Holden Commodore. The kings of the road.
The lineup grew.
- 1989: The mid-size Sonata.
- 1991: The small Lantra. It got renamed Elantra. Then the i30 Sedan.
Sales climbed slowly. 500,00 cumulative sales hit in 2004. A million followed in 2012.
Then 2015.
That was the peak. Hyundai delivered 102,004 vehicles. Fourth-best selling brand. 8.8 percent market share. The i30 sometimes topped the entire sales list. The Accent was the best light car. The ix35 owned the small SUV segment.
It was dominant.
The Fragmentation of the Market
Today? Different story.
Hyundai sold 77,208 vehicles in 2025 up 7.7 percent. Fifth-best selling brand.
Fifth.
Not bad. But look at the landscape. It’s fragmented. Competitive. Brutal.
In 2015, Hyundai held the #4 spot. Look at the top 10 brands today. Every one dropped in share, except Toyota and Ford. Hyundai slid from fourth to fifth. Its share is now 6.2 percent.
The competition is fiercer. But Hyundai is still there.
Who is Winning: Hyundai vs Kia?
Kia has been ahead since 2022.
Overall sales? Kia wins.
Market share? Kia wins.
Warranty coverage? Kia wins.
Hyundai introduced a five-year warranty back in 1999. It pushed the whole market toward that standard. Kia took over in the background around then. Then in 2014, Kia dropped a seven-year warranty.
Unconditional. Seven years.
Hyundai hasn’t matched it. Not with an unconditional seven-year plan. They rely on their own dealer network for conditions. It’s a gap.
Kia also has a ute now. The Tasman. Released last year.
Hyundai doesn’t have a comparable offering locally. Not yet.
The Electric Struggle
Hyundai has EVs. The lineup grew.
But sales? 1,882 battery-powered vehicles in 2025.
That is a disappointment. Down 30 percent year-on-year.
Compare that to Kia.
8,131 EVs. Up 125.2 percent.
Kia is light years ahead in electric momentum. Hyundai is playing catch-up.
Hybrids tell a slightly different tale. 28,851 hybrids sold. Second-largest supplier of hybrids to Australians. So the tech works. It just isn’t clicking fully for pure electric adoption.
Why This Matters for Buyers
If you are looking at a Hyundai today, you are looking at a brand that survived. It survived the Bond era. It survived the Excel’s sharp pricing. It survived the rise of Chinese EVs and Korean sister-brand rivalry.
The Genesis luxury sedan launched in 2014 as a precursor. Then Genesis became standalone in 2019.
Now you have:
– Venue (small SUV)
– Palisade (large SUV)
– Sonata (lingering stalwart)
– A full hybrid range
Don Romano took the CEO job in 2025. He looks back.
“I don’t just see vehicles or milestones,” he says. “I see millions of Australians who gave Hyundai a chance.”
They did. And 40 years later, that chance turned into 2.2 million cars. The i30 is still there. The SUVs are filling the driveways. But the gap to Kia is real. The EV gap is wider.
Can they close it?
The market isn’t forgiving. Toyota doesn’t care. Ford doesn’t care. The Chinese brands don’t care.
Hyundai is still fighting. Just… differently.
More quietly.
