Hyundai will drastically reduce the number of ICE vehicles in its lineup, in order to put even more emphasis on electric vehicles. The motivation behind the move is financial, to free up more resources and use them to develop EVs, according to a recent report citing sources familiar with the matter from South Korea.

Reuters doesn’t mention when exactly this will go into effect, but Hyundai previously officially announced that it was cutting its China lineup drastically (from 21 to 14 models) and that it was going to enforce the change by 2025. Most of the ICE vehicles that would be eliminated from the lineup would get a more or less direct EV replacement, according to the manufacturer.

We don’t know if this time frame will be applied globally, but the source points out Hyundai has actually stopped developing ICE powertrains altogether. They will still be produced, but no new engines will be launched - this is similar to what Volkswagen has announced; the German giant says that after 2026, it too will not launch any new engines.

Another automaker to announce something similar is Stellantis (the company that resulted when PSA bought and merged with Fiat-Chrysler), which made the announcement in November of last year.

Regarding Hyundai, the unnamed insiders that provided Reuters with this information said that the automaker has yet to finalize its strategy. It will be another six months before the the company decides how and how soon it will phase out the internal combustion engine.

This is not in the least bit surprising, though. Hyundai (and its Kia brand) make some of the world’s best electric vehicles and with extremely promising models such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 right around the corner, it looks set to remain a leader.

Hyundai will most likely join the list of manufacturers that have announced they are going fully electric. Many have set the year 2030 as a deadline for completely switching to electric power (Volvo, Ford Europe) and it’s very likely that Hyundai will announce something similar too, although unlike many companies that are solely relying on EVs for their mid-term strategy, the Korean company believes in hydrogen fuel cells vehicles too.

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