Colmobil, an importer of Hyundai, stopped marketing the Hyundai Ionic hybrid in Israel this week. Ionic was removed from the Hyundai Israel website, and can no longer be ordered today. Not only is it no longer possible to order the Ionic Hybrid in Israel – with it the Hyundai Ionic electric tram has also been removed from the list of Hyundai Israel models.
Ionic’s marketing halt is not surprising. Hyundai importer has previously stated that the marketing of the regular Ionic (unlike the Ionic 5 electric) will be stopped during the first months of the year – and the marketing of quite a few car models will be stopped in Israel after a few years – but not every day in Israel. Still marketed worldwide.
In practice, more than 50,000 Hyundai Ionics were sold in Israel, which went off the production line at Ulsan in Korea. Ionic held the title of “Sales Queen” in 2017 – and even in the years when it did not lead the Israeli car market, Ionic stood in the first places in the sales charts, at a level that caused quite a few car importers to try and crack the formula – how a rather gray car became such a popular model. The answer lay in two main factors: tax benefits and the ability to infiltrate vehicle fleets. Due to its being a hybrid, the Ionic was subject to a 30% purchase tax, the vehicle fleets received discounts, and the Ionic, a small family car, became the sales queen of Israel, until it was discontinued by the Toyota Corolla.
It should be noted that although Ionic is not marketed by Colmobil, it will probably market in the future in indirect imports. According to the Ministry of Transportation, Hyundai Ionic cars were registered for import into Israel in parallel imports by AutoMax.
This means that the niche of the “Hyundai Hybrid”, the nickname that has become common in recent years, will now be populated by Hyundai’s bestseller – Ionic, but not by Colmobil, and alongside it the Elantra hybrid, a new model on the market, by Colmobil’s direct import.