By Gary S. Vasilash

In reporting its October sales, Hyundai noted that the company that was once thought of mainly in the context of its style-setting Sonata sedan (remember when the 2011 model came out with its “Fluidic Sculpture” styling that made all other sedans seem as though they came from an earlier age?) had 81% of its retail mix in. . . SUVs.

Of course, that has a little something to do with the fact that in the car category there are the Sonata, Elantra and recently introduced IONIQ 6 EV sedan, while in the SUV category there are:

• IONIQ 5
• Kona
• Nexo
• Pallisade
• Santa Fe
• Tucson
• Venue

(There is also the Santa Cruz pickup, for purposes of providing a look at the entire showroom.)

While there were 9,456 Elantras sold—an 11% increase compared with October 2022 sales—there were 9,700 Santa Fes sold—and that’s a decrease of 10% compared to last year and it still is more than the Elantra sales.

But what is more interesting in some regards is this observation from Randy Parker, Hyundai North America CEO:

“This was the best-ever October for total and retail sales for our segment-leading Tucson HEV, Tucson PHEV, Santa Fe HEV and IONIQ 5 SUVs along with our Elantra HEV.”

Yes, hybrids are doing increasingly well at Hyundai, though there is also that full battery-electric IONIQ 5.

Overall, electrified vehicles represented 21% of Hyundai’s October sales, a 49% year-over-year (YoY) increase.

In terms of the hybrid YoY increases:

• Elantra HEV:          +15%
• Santa Fe HEV:        +81%
• Tucson PHEV:         +170%
• Tucson HEV:           +14%

Odds are those OEMs that decided to deemphasize hybrids to promote full electric vehicles are giving their portfolio strategy a hard re-think.