Hyundai N was first established as a division of the South Korean carmaker in 2012, and ever since it introduced its first road-going model in Australia in 2018 it has been going from strength to strength.

    Speaking at a recent media event for the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, Hyundai N vice president Till Wartenberg said Australia is a “very important market for us” where “there’s a lot of driving enthusiasts”.

    In the five years Hyundai has offered its track-ready N and sporty-looking N Line models in Australia, the sales split has grown from 1 per cent to 28.8 per cent according to June 2023 year-to-date sales.

    Local sales of full-fat N models has grown every year since 2020. There were 698 Hyundai N models sold in 2020, 1896 examples sold in 2021, and 3899 examples sold in 2022.

    This year to the end of June there have 2474 Hyundai N models sold, meaning if the trajectory continues it could be yet another record year for Hyundai’s sportiest models locally.

    Currently the top-selling full-fat N model offered locally is the i30 Sedan N with 1055 examples sold this year until the end of June. This is followed by the i30 N hatch (610 sales), Kona N (533 sales), and i20 N (276 sales).

    It’s worth noting orders for both the i20 N and i30 N hatches are currently closed right now, though Hyundai Australia chief operating officer recently told CarExpert a “solution” is coming before the end of 2023.

    The outgoing Kona N is currently in runout too with no confirmation of a next-generation model yet.

    Branching out to include the sporty-looking Hyundai N Line models, the current top-selling N Line model is the Tucson N Line with 4932 examples sold this year to the end of June.

    This is followed by the i30 N Line (1819 sales), i30 Sedan N Line (931 sales), Kona N Line (547 sales), plus the Sonata N Line (163 sales).

    Australian buyers appear to be quite fond of the racy-looking Hyundai Tucson N Line, as almost 46 per cent of local Tucson buyers are opting for the package.

    39.5 per cent of Australian i30 Sedan buyers are opting for the full-fat i30 Sedan N, and another 34.8 per cent are opting for the i30 Sedan N Line. This brings N and N Line variants to 74.3 per cent of total i30 Sedan sales.

    While Hyundai hasn’t announced an N version of its second-generation Kona, it will be offered in N Line trim across petrol and hybrid variants locally.

    The updated Sonata N Line is due to launch locally in the second half of 2023 and will continue to be the only member of the local mid-sized sedan range, and the updated i30 Sedan N will arrive later this year.

    Hyundai N also recently announced its first electric vehicle (EV), the Ioniq 5 N, which is due to launch locally in the first half of 2024.

    Australian Hyundai N and N Line sales are as follows:

    YearN and N Line salesTotal Hyundai salesSales split (per cent)
    2019413186,1045.0
    2020380064,8076.0
    202112,34472,87217.0
    202220,78473,34528.3
    2023 (June YTD)10,86637,70728.8
    Jack Quick

    Jack Quick is an automotive journalist based in Melbourne. Jack studied journalism and photography at Deakin University in Burwood, and previously represented the university in dance nationally. In his spare time, he loves to pump Charli XCX and play a bit of Grand Theft Auto. He’s also the proud owner of a blue, manual 2020 Suzuki Jimny.

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