Hyundai Motor Malaysia starts afresh with new Santa Fe, Tucson, Staria – no legacy models, incl Ioniq EVs

Hyundai Motor Malaysia’s (HMY) entry into the market has seen it introduce three models – the fifth-gen Santa Fe SUV, facelifted fourth-gen Tucson SUV and updated Staria MPV – as part of its initial push, and while more models are expected to be added into the CKD product portfolio in the coming years, it remains to be seen what these are.

What is certain is that there will are no carry over products from before, when Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) represented the brand here. With nothing slated beyond the launch trio in the near future, this means models such as the Palisade, previous-gen CKD Santa Fe and Ioniq EVs will no longer feature as far as the brand is concerned.

According to HMY MD Jahabarnisa Haja Mohideen, the three models introduced with the launch of the brand will be the only models it will market. “Whatever we have actually introduced will be the models that we will sell, moving forward,” she said.

Despite not bringing over legacy inventory, the company said it will continue to provide support for products sold previously. “For existing customers, we will honour all the warranties that was given previously. That is the first thing that we will do, as it is very important to us,” she said.

In terms of product count, the Santa Fe, Tucson and Staria will be the only vehicles the brand will introduce this year. “There are no plans for further products for this year. Our main focus will be these three models, and the next step will be the CKD assembly programme, of which the first model will be the Staria,” said HMY’s head of product Sean Yeo.

Local production is set to begin sometime in this quarter at Inokom’s Kulim plant, which has been churning out Hyundais for some time now. At the preview of the three models last week, the company stated that while output would initially be for domestic consumption, it would expand to exports to neighbouring ASEAN markets as production capacity grows.

Given that the automaker has a number of assembly operations in the region (Indonesia, Thailand and even Singapore, albeit on a small scale), we asked how Malaysia would fit into the scheme of things from an export viewpoint. Jahabarnisa said that HMY is looking into how it can incorporate its production to contribute to other regional markets.

“Of course, they do have their own (production), but with trade moving very rapidly now, we can produce and we can export. We are in the midst of creating that synergy. Once we have further information of a concrete plan, we will share it accordingly,” she said.

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