Hyundai Ioniq 7 will probably be renamed Ioniq 9

It is unclear why the production model is being renamed. The articles in Automotive News and Electrek do not provide any answers. Hyundai may want to make room in its nomenclature for another electric model.

Hyundai presented the Seven concept car back in November 2021. It is a seven-seater electric SUV with three rows of seats, primarily aimed at the US and Asian markets. Visually, it uses the pixel design of the Ioniq 5 but also has a continuous LED strip at the front (like the new Kona Electric). As with the two previous Ioniq models, it is based on the E-GMP all-electric platform.

If the model is now launched on the market as the Ioniq 9, the electric SUV would not only bear the same code number as the Group’s sister model, the Kia EV9, but Hyundai could also introduce further model series between the Ioniq 6 with its 4.86 metres in length and the Ioniq 9, which is probably just over five metres long, without disrupting the size order of the Ioniq series. So far, Hyundai has not commented on further Ioniq models; another SUV in the 4.90-metre class as the Ioniq 7 and an electric saloon above the Ioniq 6 are conceivable, but Hyundai has so far positioned the Genesis brand in the luxury class.

However, the renaming will not change the fact that the model will be built in two plants: Initially, production is planned in South Korea, specifically at the Asan plant – where the Ioniq 6 is already being built. Later, the SUV will also roll off the production line in the US at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), which is currently under construction in Georgia. As was announced in February, the plant there will be ready to start production in the fourth quarter of 2024 – the initial plan was for the first half of 2025.

autonews.com (paywall), electrek.co