Hyundai wants to beat Kia in the Australian sales race

Hyundai Australia’s operating boss says the brand’s “healthy rivalry” with sister brand Kia has it aspiring for a stronger presence at the top of the sales charts.

Speaking with CarExpert at the launch of the new Elexio electric SUV, Hyundai Australia chief operating officer Gavin Donaldson said: “I want to beat everyone.”

“Sales are always important. I think when you look at sales, you’re always in a competition – it doesn’t matter which brand you’re against,” Mr Donaldson said.

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“I think there’s a healthy rivalry [between Hyundai and Kia]. When it’s all said and done, I look at Hyundai and Kia and when you combine the results we’re a very strong, very powerful, really relevant car company in Australia.

“I know the team well over there [at Kia], it’s always my personal belief [that] I want to beat everyone. But you know, I don’t get dragged down on what the results are at the end of the day… I just look at what we can do and make sure that we get the best result that we can give every month,” Mr Donaldson added.

Kia overtook Hyundai in the local sales race in 2023, and has held a lead over its sister brand ever since.

When asked about the brand’s more specific aspirations around fighting the likes of Toyota, Ford and Mazda for the overall sales podium, Mr Donaldson said he’d “never put a ceiling on what [Hyundai’s] aspirations are”.

“You’ve got to have the product portfolio to get you there. You can always put out the volume you want to get, but you want to have the product portfolio.

“Toyota is always going to be very difficult to beat. They are where they are for a reason. We’re currently number five but I’d like to be in position four? Yep. Would I like to be in position three? Yes. Would I like to take two? Yeah,” Mr Donaldson continued.

“We will always assess our performance based on the results that we get – I won’t be [worried] about the scorecard whether we’re [second, third, fourth or fifth].

“But I’m very competitive, and I’d like to make sure we get the best result that we can.”

Hyundai registered 77,208 new vehicles in 2025, 7.7 per cent up on 2024’s result and fifth in the overall manufacturer standings for the calendar year – behind Toyota (239,863), Ford (94,339), Mazda (91,923) and Kia (82,105).

While outgunned by its Korean sister brand in the overall standings, Hyundai posted some wins in the hybrid space, placing second in overall hybrid sales behind Toyota with 28,851 sales, up 92.8 per cent on the year prior.

Leading the charge were the Tucson (10,556) and Kona (10,407) hybrid SUVs, which outgunned the Toyota Camry (9838), Yaris Cross (9409) and Kluger (7817) – all of which have recently moved to hybrid-only lineups.

Much of Kia’s lead over Hyundai is down to the Carnival people mover, which outsold the van-based Hyundai Staria by nearly 10-to-1 (10,948 v 1205).

Further, the enduringly popular Kia Picanto city hatch doesn’t have a Hyundai equivalent, with 7166 sales for the year almost equalling Hyundai’s cheapest car, the Venue SUV (7927). Kia also posted 6515 sales in the light SUV segment with its Venue-rivalling Stonic.

So far in 2026, Hyundai is showing promising growth. It posted year-over-year growth of 6.9 per cent in January to 5856 units, led by strong performances by the Kona and Tucson, as well as the new Palisade SUVs. Still, it was 800 units off Kia, which managed 6600 units (up 15.4 per cent).

Hyundai has also just ended production of non-performance versions of the popular i30 Hatch, which could lose it decent volume over the coming 12 months, with no direct replacement planned as yet.

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