The first half of 2025 was a particularly strong period for Hyundai in terms of UK fleet interest. The manufacturer saw its true fleet sales increase by 33.8% during H1, contributing to a 5.1% year-on-year growth in the manufacturer’s sales overall.

When asked for the reasons for this fleet success, Hyundai Motor UK president and CEO Ashley Andrew tells us that some of the credit goes to the manufacturer’s product range.

He says: “I think if you look at the portfolio of cars that we’ve got, Ioniq 5 does incredibly well, with the introduction last year [of] N Line [spec] into the model year 2025 Ioniq 5. 

“N Line has done particularly well, because obviously you’ve got a stronger residual value, because [of] the natural demand for that kind of sporty trim in the UK, and the stronger residual value combined with the price point means the monthly payments are competitive. 

“So, Ioniq 5 does well, N Line has done particularly well. Kona EV and Kona hybrid perform very well. These are the key models which kind of underpin that fleet growth.”

PHEV factor

Hyundai’s best-selling model overall in the UK is the Tucson medium SUV, and Andrew says this also plays a role for the brand in fleet.

He says: “The plug-in hybrid [Tucson] is particularly popular. In terms of new product, when we did the latest model year on Tucson, we brought in the two-wheel drive plug-in hybrid, so that was a difference because previously it was four-wheel drive. 

“The two-wheel drive, obviously, has enabled us to get to a different price point, but still offer the benefit of the tax advantages that plug-in hybrid brings. 

“The other vehicle that underpins that growth in true fleet is the Santa Fe plug-in hybrid. The latest generation of Santa Fe, with the very clear design, that kind of classic box SUV design, has proved incredibly popular, and obviously with the plug-in hybrid powertrain in that, we’ve seen significant growth in fleet.” 

In addition to the cars, Andrew also highlights Hyundai’s success with customers as being important to the brand’s fleet growth in 2025.

He says: “For a number of years, really since we’ve bought Ioniq in, we’ve been building end-user supply agreements. So, we’ve got a really strong portfolio now of end-user agreements with companies in the UK, and as the tax advantages of EVs have become more prevalent, that conventional book of end-user supply agreements has opened wider to give their customers more choice of EVs. 

“And Ioniq has performed really well with that, so we know it’s very popular for user choosers and end users.”

New arrivals

2025 has seen two Hyundai EV launches at opposite ends of the market, with the Inster city car being followed by the Ioniq 9 seven-seater SUV.

Discussing the fleet prospects for these models, Andrew says: “Inster’s performing well. We’re seeing initially the majority of uptake with Inster is retail, but it’s getting established through fleet as we do more and more [with] the fleet demonstrators and make them available. 

“Ioniq 9 is reaching showrooms now, so the retailers are just getting their demonstrators ready for the start of September. But because Ioniq 9 offers the seven-seat flexibility, but in a dedicated EV, so it picks up all those benefits you find and all the tax advantages, we anticipate Ioniq 9 will do incredibly well with fleet, again, particularly user choosers, salary sacrifice – people and families who are looking for that kind of product, with that flexibility of interior space.”

Andrew was speaking with Business Car at the unveiling of the Concept Three (pictured, top), which previews the most compact Hyundai Ioniq EV model yet, due to arrive in 2026. Andrew tells us that he expects the production version of the Concept Three to be an important model for fleet, and also to complement, rather than compete with, the Kona Electric compact SUV.

He says: “Obviously [Concept Three is] more of your classic car bodystyle, so it’s kind of a coupe, conventional car bodystyle. Whereas Kona is clearly an SUV. 

“So, you’ve got different customers who will look for those different bodystyles. You get people who like SUVs because they like the higher seating position, and [Concept Three] being very, very much more a conventional kind of coupe car, I think it’ll sit alongside [the Kona] and they’ll complement each other.”

Grant delay

The big news for the UK EV market in the past few months has been the introduction of the government’s Electric Car Grant, offering discounts of up to £3,750 on qualifying new EVs, which at the time of writing does not include any Hyundai models.

Andrew tells us that he expects Hyundai models to become eligible for the grant, but that it must first secure the required accreditation.

Andrew says: “We think we will be eligible, but we’re not eligible at the moment, because one of the qualification criteria is to have the SBTI targets in place. Now, we’ve got a number of accreditations, so we’ve got RE100 [membership] and we’ve got CDP [accreditation]. So, we know we’ve performed really well, and in the latter one, the CDP, we’re actually A-rated, and of the organisations which qualified for the CDP rating, only 2% get to the A rating. 

“So, we know in terms of carbon reduction and low CO2 that as an organisation we’ve performed well, it’s just the SBTI isn’t an accreditation that we’ve had previously. Obviously, the way the [Electric Car Grant] was bought in, there was no prior consultation. So, we will apply for the SBTI, but there’s a gestation period that you have to go through to get all of that in place.”

Hydrogen prospects

While battery EVs have become the clear focus of the UK’s car market decarbonisation efforts, talk of hydrogen cars has dwindled to practically nil. However, Hyundai was a pioneer in this technology with the Nexo, and the manufacturer included hydrogen innovations on its stand at the recent Munich motor show. When asked about the prospects for hydrogen cars, Andrew says: “The way we look at it is, one of the big benefits of having the technology investment in the group, is that we’ve also got that expertise, that capability, and that know-how with hydrogen technology. 

“In the mid-term to the longer-term, as we look to get to carbon neutrality, hydrogen’s going to play more and more of a role, and you obviously see the application clearly with the larger vehicles, so things like HGVs, buses. But if you’ve got that core competence, and you’ve developed it for HGVs and buses and, you know, latterly you’ll see that come in terms of trains and ships, then why not bring it in passenger cars? 

“So, we can go as quickly as the market adapts, because we’ve got that full capability in terms of technology. I think we’ll start seeing it probably more in the future, maybe more with councils and municipals as they look to bring, you know, HGVs, and they look to lower the CO2s. And of course, once you start getting an ecosystem and you start then getting more hydrogen end user products, then you’ll get the infrastructure network for refuelling established, and then passenger cars can play a role with them.”

Returning to the more immediate future, Andrew expects Hyundai’s strong UK fleet market showing in the first half of 2025 to continue for the rest of the year.

He says: “Because we’ve got a good portfolio of end-user supply agreements, where we know we get the repeat purchases coming through, [and] because it’s product driven and we’ve got the new products coming in, such as Inster and Ioniq 9, we expect to see continued true fleet growth through the second half of the year. 

“And also, the Tucson two-wheel drive plug-in hybrid has proved very successful, N Line as a trim level has proved very successful, and Santa Fe will add to that.”