Hyundai, South Korea's largest automobile manufacturer. Investigating the reaction to their new EV "KONA"

KONA is the third EV that Hyundai has released since re-entering the Japanese market in 2022.

At 4,455 millimeters in length, 1,825 millimeters in width, and 1,590 millimeters in height, it is one size smaller than the previously two models that were released, making it a relatively compact SUV within Hyundai’s models. However, the overall width is 1,825 millimeters, which is larger than a regular car, so it has a stronger presence than a typical compact SUV.

The price starts from 3,993,000 yen, which is more affordable than the two other Hyundai models released earlier. Furthermore, it is eligible for the EV subsidy, so you can purchase it at an even better price (as of March 2024).

KONA is a model that is already sold overseas, but has been improved for the Japanese market.

For example, they have introduced Drive Mode Select (DMS), which allows for four driving modes--Normal, Eco, Sport, and Snow--so that it can be adapted Japan's wide variety of road environments.

However, all four grades sold are front-wheel drive and are not suitable for rough roads, so they will be mainly used for casual driving in the city, rather than a full-fledged SUV that can run on any road.

Now, let's consider what kind of demographic is interested in the Hyundai KONA, based on data collected from people who visited the official Hyundai KONA website.

This research was conducted using VALUES' online behavioral analytics tool “Dockpit,” which uses online behavioral log data that is updated monthly to analyze competitors’ websites and investigate trends.

The number of website visitors began to increase from August 2023. The number of visitors has gradually increased, peaking at almost 600,000 people in November 2023, but the number of visitors has been decreasing since then.

Next, let's take a look at website visitors by gender. We will use data from February 2024 as reference.

Among the visitors, 88.7% are male, making up a disproportionately large number of visitors. This may have something to do with the fact that cars such as EVs and SUVs have features that attract men's interest.

Next, let's look at the visitors by age group.

Interest is high among people in their 20s, 50s, and 60s. Is it the affordable price that is attracting interest?

This may be related to the fact that people in their 20s will be able to ride the Hyundai KONA from December 2023 on the car sharing / rental care service Anyca. Are young people searching because they are interested in car sharing and rental car services?

For visitors in their 50s and 60s, price may have something to do with it. Generally, non-Japanese EVs are expensive to purchase, and the same goes for Hyundai's other two models. (IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 5 Limited Edition are regarded as the same model)

The fact that it can be purchased at a reasonable price of approximately 4 million yen while being in the non-Japanese car category is probably attracting the interest of people in their 50s and 60s who value high quality.

Next, we will look at how many people across different annual household incomes are interested.

Interest among those with an annual household income of 8 million to 10 million yen is by far the highest. Does it have anything to do with the Hyundai KONA’s relatively affordable price among SUV EVs?

Next, we will look at the visitors’ marital status and whether they have children or not.

Interest is high among married people and those with children. Of course, price is a factor, but it may also be related to the Hyundai KONA’s features and spaciousness.

For example, the Smart Power Liftgate function allows you to open the liftgate hands-free, and the rear seats can be folded down to expand the luggage space.

Next, we will take a look at what manufacturers people are comparing the Hyundai KONA with.

With the websites for Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc. at the top, you can see that the Hyundai KONA is being compared with Japanese cars.

Considering that Honda and Toyota are included in the comparison, which have low EV sales, it may be that they want to compare a variety of cars, including gas-powered cars, rather than comparing them with EVs.

Although Lexus is included in the comparison, non-Japanese car manufacturers are not included, so it may be that it is being compared as an economy car rather than a luxury car.

Finally, we will look at the website's traffic sources.

More than 90% of the traffic to the Hyundai KONA web page comes from organic searches, and it seems that they are not focusing on advertising at the moment. Is it a unique strategy similar to Tesla’s where customers are attracted without using any advertising?

However, since the traffic sources for Hyundai's website is mainly display ads, there is a possibility that display ads will also increase for KONA in the future.

Since it has only recently been released, they may be keeping a close eye on sales trends.

Using the data from visitors to the Hyundai KONA website, we investigated the volume, interested segments, manufacturers considered for comparison, and methods of attracting customers.

After peaking at the start of sales, the number of website visitors has been decreasing, and it appears that men are particularly interested. We also found that people in their 20s, 50s, and 60s, and those in the 8 million to 10 million yen bracket, are interested.

Although the Hyundai KONA is a non-Japanese car, it is often compared to Japanese cars, and its price range suggests that it is being compared as a consumer car rather than a luxury car.

Organic search accounted for more than 90% of the traffic sources, but since Hyundai's main website attracts a lot of customers through display ads, display ads may increase in the future.

Since it has only been long since being on the market, we hope to keep an eye on their future sales strategies.

▼Data from Dockpit was used in this case study. Dockpit is an online behavior analytics tool provided by VALUES, Inc., and it allows you to access online behavioral data (updated monthly) via your browser so you can research competitor websites and investigate trends. There is a FREE version of Dockpit, so if you are interested in using it, please register below.