Hyundai shelves IONIQ 3 launch in Australia as cheaper Chinese EVs take over

This is car industry news, not a home energy story, but here's what happened for anyone following EV options.

Hyundai has canceled plans to sell its IONIQ 3 electric hatchback in Australia. The car was set to launch there in early 2027 at around AUD$40,000, but Hyundai pulled the listing from its Australian website. A company spokesperson said importing the car, which is built in Turkey, would cost too much to compete against cheaper Chinese-made EVs already selling well in Australia, including BYD's Dolphin, which starts around AUD$28,888.

The IONIQ 3 is still going on sale elsewhere. In the UK it starts at £18,495 (about $25,000) after a government grant, and in Europe it runs around €28,950 (about $33,000) — both markets where Hyundai builds the car closer to home, keeping costs down. The hatch comes with a choice of two battery sizes, offering up to 213 miles of range on the smaller pack or up to 308 miles on the larger one, using the WLTP testing standard common in Europe.

Hyundai has no plans to sell the IONIQ 3 in the United States. But the company's CEO has warned that without trade barriers, the US could eventually see the same flood of low-cost Chinese EVs that has reshaped pricing in the UK and Australia. For now, this is a story about global car markets rather than anything that changes home energy upgrade options.