Korean giant’s first China-made car, a medium battery-fed SUV, could be here from early 2026.

EFFORT to include into its New Zealand electric range the Elexio - Hyundai’s first China-made car - is progressing, and while sign-off has yet to occur, a local representative says the model “definitely excites us.”

Hyundai New Zealand product spokesman Ross Wenzlick has also indicated that, if the medium sports utility wagon does come, it will be to much the same timing and in common specification to how it will present in Australia.

Hyundai’s distributor there yesterday formally confirmed the Elexio and cited potential for arrival there in early 2026.

In response to questioning abut whether that opened the door to NZ, Wenzlick said: “Yes, Elexio is under consideration for New Zealand.

“It’s a compelling addition to Hyundai’s EV lineup, and we’re assessing its suitability for our market.”

Pricing and finer specification details for the model across the Tasman has yet to be announced, but an 88.1kWh battery pack has been locked in, as has a 27-inch widescreen display, 506-litre boot and a 500 kilometre-plus WLTP range.

Australian certification documents cited by media there reveal three configurations are in line for our neighbour: A two-wheel-drive standard range, a two-wheel-drive long-range, and an all-wheel-drive long-range.

The two-wheel-drive versions have a 160kW electric motor, while the all-wheel-drive will add a secondary, circa-70kW electric motor for a combined output of approximately 230kW.

DC fast-charging will supposedly yield a 30-80 percent top-up in 27 minutes.

Elexio is seen as a different choice than the similar-sized Ioniq 5, which also represents as a SUV regardless that it affects a mega-hatchback styling, and starts at $79,990.

Elexio would conceivably would cost less, which means it logically will give Hyundai NZ a new alternate to the Kona EV, which is presently off the menu.

One likely rival is the EV5 from Hyundai Group stablemate Kia, but the BYD Sealion 7, Tesla Model Y and impending XPeng G6 could also be references.

Elexio is the first Hyundai model under the "In China, For China, To Global" strategy aimed at overcoming recent struggles in the world's largest car market.

Identification to address the same need is why Kia has EV5. It also comes out of China, but Kia’s partner there is not the one Hyundai has for Elexio and the cars are not technically related.

One potentially crucial point of difference for Elexio is that it is underpinned by the Hyundai Group's lauded e-GMP architecture, also used by Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, which means it has 800 volt charging. The Kia is on a 400v underpinning from its domestic partner.

Elexio is built by Beijing Hyundai, a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Company and Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC).

Global specifications include a 27-inch widescreen display, a head-up display, an eight-speaker Bose audio system, Dolby Atmos support, "integrated health monitoring", and fatigue detection.