• Hyundai’s Ioniq 6 faced a sales disaster in September, with deliveries down a staggering 64 percent.
  • Sales of the 911-shaped sedan were also down 57 percent across the whole of Q3.
  • Overall brand deliveries dropped 9 percent, but the Palisade, Elantra, and Sonata showed improvements.

Automakers are struggling to shift EVs right now, but sales figures for the Hyundai Ioniq 6 are so bad you’d think the sedans were cemented into dealership lots.

Ioniq 6 deliveries plummeted by a staggering 64 percent in September versus September 2023, and they were also down 57 percent across Q3. Hyundai sold only 599 units last month, which, to give you some perspective, compares with 3,336 deliveries of the Ioniq 5, itself down 16 percent in September, which to be fair, was a bad month for most automakers in the States.

Related: 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 6 N Shows Sonata-Like Face And Huge Wing

Both EVs are still up year-on-year, but the car market has changed markedly since then, and the Ioniq 6 is on course to more than wipe out its 9 percent gain before the year is out. A facelifted 2026MY Ioniq 6 is currently being tested and could debut at the LA Auto Show in November, but neither it or the upcoming Ioniq 6 N will arrive in showrooms in time to have an impact this year.

It wasn’t only Hyundai’s EVs that suffered in September. The hydrogen-powered Nexo notched up just two sales, down from 16, and some ICE models also hit the skids. The Santa Fe was down 38 percent, the Santa Cruz slid 30 percent and the Kona suffered a 23 percent dip.

HYUNDAI SALES SEP & Q3 2024
ModelSep-24Sep-23% ChgQ3-24Q3-23% Chg
Elantra11,1869,40519%39,32932,56521%
Ioniq 53,3363,958-16%11,59011,665-1%
Ioniq 65991,665-64%2,1855,073-57%
Kona5,1446,693-23%17,96918,593-3%
Nexo216-88%1268-82%
Palisade8,2027,5519%28,04519,41044%
Santa Cruz2,1253,051-30%7,2269,033-20%
Santa Fe7,91812,676-38%27,05935,020-23%
Sonata5,5753,40164%17,28310,00773%
Tucson16,80218,813-11%53,80152,5892%
Venue1,6021,732-8%6,4726,510-1%
Total62,49168,961-9%210,971200,5345%
SWIPE

Coming to Hyundai’s rescue to stave off a full-on September catastrophe from the under-performance of those supposedly on-trend SUVs and crossovers were a couple of supposedly unfashionable sedans. Elantra sales grew by 19 percent and the Sonata was up 64 percent. And the Palisade did salvage some pride for utilities: its sales edged up by 9 percent.

But those glimmers of good news weren’t enough to prevent Hyundai scoring a 9 percent fall in sales across its model lines in September to 68,961 units. Q3 sales were at least up 5 percent and the year-to-date deliveries gained 2 percent, which means Hyundai is faring better than its sister brand, Kia, whose sales dropped 13 percent overall.

HYUNDAI SALES YTD
ModelYTD-24YTD-23% Chg
Elantra101,618107,303-5%
Ioniq 530,31825,30620%
Ioniq 69,0978,3189%
Kona64,50856,51814%
Nexo89173-49%
Palisade81,79258,85739%
Santa Cruz25,17129,083-13%
Santa Fe83,68196,162-13%
Sonata48,43037,34130%
Tucson145,947153,180-5%
Venue19,84322,869-13%
Total610,494595,1472%
SWIPE
Ioniq 6 Claims Title Of Hyundai’s Worst-Selling Model By A Landslide