PSWilson wrote:Damper? This is not about excitement rather it is about losing sales and trust in Hyundai/dealerships
You'd think companies would realize that authentic honesty and full disclosure is much better than what they've done in the past of carefully managed announcements, rollouts and silence when something is amiss.
You lose more by silence than being forthcoming on what is happening .. And something is clearly happening with all the delays.
I have to agree with the bolded. You can't really blame the dealership too much for bad info from Hyundai - they are (generally) independently owned and operated (and even if they aren't, the manager really isn't 'in the loop' on corporate policy!). But Hyundai is really blowing introduction of this vehicle! It has been available for almost a year in Korea, so all of the production bugs SHOULD have been ironed out by now. There should be no *production* reason why they aren't rolling out the vehicle.
The only reason I can think of is that it is meant to be a 'compliance vehicle' - a vehicle specifically designed to meet 'clean air' standards/laws, allowing them to meet the minimum CARB requirements for their fleet, sold at or near a loss, so that they can sell the expensive, low-mileage, polluting SUVs and other gas/diesel vehicles. The cars are wonderfully inexpensive (based on announced prices in the U.S.) - several $1000 cheaper than the equivalent Prius, and/or with better accessories in a particular trim level.
Personally, I am very, VERY tempted by the Ioniq PHEV (plug-in). I would buy it as the replacement for my 12-year-old gas "non-totally-electric" (my family's other car is 100% electric). The older car is PZEV (very, very low emissions) but replacing it with a car that would normally run electric (30 miles a day, even more after a mid-day plug-in) would be even better.
Hyundai announced that the Ioniq would only be *promoted* (I think they mean a vehicle available at the dealer for a test drive or on-lot for immediate purchase) in a small number of states (in the U.S.). And the all-electric would be promoted in an even smaller # of states. The vehicle would be SOLD across the entire U.S., but only via ordering. That will probably be true in Canada as well - mostly promoted in those provinces that have shown a higher # of sales of alt-energy vehicles.
At any rate, it almost seems that Hyundai is trying to squash sales of their new vehicle before it is even in the market! I would probably
immediately buy a brand-new Ioniq PHEV if it had a 45+ miles all-electric range. (I am generally more of a 'wait and see, then buy used' kind of guy for car purchases.) So I will wait by the sidelines and see how it turns out, I guess. I will be replacing my electric in 2+ years. A used Ioniq electric (125 miles range) would be great, especially if prices for used BEVs continue to drop due to arrival of more and more 170+ miles range electrics from the different manufacturers : Chevy, Tesla, Nissan, Hyundai, and others. (Hyundai has already announced an Ionic EV with greater range to be introduced for 2018 model year.)