Hyundai Elexio: The First Fully Chinese Hyundai On Sale In Australia
The Hyundai Elexio is the first Hyundai designed and engineered in China to be sold in Australia.
That alone marks a major shift in the global car industry.
I travelled to China to see the engineering and manufacturing capability behind it — and what I saw challenges a lot of assumptions about Chinese automotive technology.
Watch the full analysis below.
This is Part 1 of a two-part series on Hyundai’s Chinese engineering and manufacturing operations. In Part 2 I take you inside Hyundai’s R&D centre and factory in China. You can read Part 2 here.
You can also watch this video on YouTube.
About the Hyundai Elexio
The Hyundai Elexio is a new mid-size electric SUV developed in China by Hyundai’s joint venture with BAIC. It is the first Hyundai designed and engineered in China to be exported to markets including Australia.
The vehicle represents Hyundai’s growing investment in Chinese engineering and manufacturing capability as China becomes one of the world’s most important centres for electric vehicle development.
The Hyundai Elexio is more significant than it might sound.
For decades Australians associated Hyundai with South Korea. But Hyundai is now the world’s third-largest carmaker, and the company has spent years building major engineering and manufacturing capability in China.
The Elexio is one of the first products of that strategy.
And its arrival coincides with a major shift in Australia’s car market: China has now overtaken Japan as Australia’s largest source of vehicle imports. That’s the first time Japan hasn’t held that position in nearly three decades.
The future has arrived — whether we noticed or not.
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Hyundai Elexio: The first Hyundai designed and manufactured in China
A Hyundai Designed In China
The Hyundai Elexio was designed primarily for the Chinese market.
That’s important because China is now the largest automotive market in the world, and it has become a global centre for electric vehicle development. If you want to compete in EVs globally, you need serious engineering capability there.
Hyundai recognised that years ago and established a full engineering and research operation in China to support its joint venture with BAIC.
The Elexio is one of the results.
It’s a family-sized electric SUV aimed squarely at the heart of the modern EV market — practical, relatively affordable, and designed around the expectations of today’s buyers.
But the real story here isn’t just the car itself.
The bigger story is what Hyundai — and the rest of the global car industry — has been doing quietly in China for the past decade.
Elexio is a product of Hyundai’s full R&D capability at Yantai, China
China’s Automotive Rise
For many Australians, the mental picture of Chinese manufacturing is still stuck somewhere around the early 2000s — cheap products, questionable quality, and a lot of copying.
That picture is badly out of date.
China has spent the past decade investing heavily in engineering capability, research infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing. The country now produces more vehicles than any other nation and is rapidly becoming one of the most important centres of automotive innovation in the world.
Hyundai’s decision to design and build vehicles like the Elexio in China reflects that reality.
Hyundai Elexio: made in China, with BYD battery
Hyundai’s Reputation
There’s also a simple commercial fact to consider.
Hyundai has spent 40 years building its reputation in Australia. That reputation didn’t come easily — it took decades of sustained improvement in engineering, quality, and design.
Today many Hyundai vehicles legitimately compete with European rivals costing tens of thousands more.
Vehicles like Santa Fe and Palisade, for example, can stand comfortably alongside SUVs such as the Audi Q7 or Mercedes-Benz GLE in terms of engineering fundamentals.
Given that context, Hyundai Australia would have to be clinically insane to introduce a Chinese-built vehicle that risked damaging the brand it spent four decades building.
The Elexio exists because Hyundai is confident it meets the company’s global standards.
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Hyundai Elexio features a massive 27-inch display - but no traditional instrument cluster
The Bigger Question
So the real question is not whether Hyundai can build a car in China.
The real question is this:
What is the state of automotive engineering and manufacturing in China today?
To answer that, I travelled to China to see Hyundai’s engineering and manufacturing operations firsthand.
What I saw there challenges a lot of assumptions.
Hyundai Elexio is made at Hyundai’s newest (and therefore most hi-tech) factory - outside Beijing
FAQ
Where is the Hyundai Elexio built?
The Hyundai Elexio is built in China by Beijing Hyundai, a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Company and BAIC.
Is the Hyundai Elexio coming to Australia?
Yes. Hyundai has confirmed the Elexio is intended for export markets including Australia.
What platform is the Hyundai Elexio based on?
The Elexio uses Hyundai’s E-GMP electric vehicle platform.
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Hyundai Elexio production outside Beijing is largely robotic
PART 2
In Part 2, I take you inside Hyundai’s Chinese R&D centre and the factory where the Elexio is built. It raises some important (and uncomfortable) questions about global carmaking and how established brands hope to compete into the future.
