Hyundai trademarks Ioniq P name for its cheapest India EV

What Hyundai has actually confirmed

On its Q3 2026 earnings call on October 29, Hyundai Motor Company management told analysts that the India range would soon add "Bayon and Ioniq P," according to a transcript of the call published by Investing.com. That single line was the first time anyone at Hyundai used the Ioniq P name in public.

Hyundai Motor India itself has not put out a statement confirming the nameplate. But on November 4, Autocar India reported that Hyundai had filed a trademark application for "Ioniq P" under Class 12, the category covering vehicles and vehicle parts, and that the filing was still under examination. Until the trademark clears and Hyundai makes its own announcement, the name is confirmed only by what the company's own executives said on the earnings call, not by a formal product reveal.

Where it sits in Hyundai's India lineup

Hyundai currently sells one EV in India, the Creta Electric. The Ioniq P is a smaller, cheaper car that Hyundai has been developing under the codename HE1i, built on the E-GMP (K) platform, the same architecture used for the Inster EV that Hyundai sells overseas. Autocar India's October 30 report said the car is now expected in Indian showrooms in the January to March 2027 quarter, a quarter later than Hyundai had earlier indicated, and that it will be priced below the Creta Electric. The same report named the Tata Nexon EV, the Mahindra XUV 3XO EV and the Kia Syros EV, which shares underpinnings with the Ioniq P, as the rivals it will have to beat on price.

Hyundai has not released a price for the Ioniq P. Trade publications tracking the trademark filing have floated figures from about ₹9.79 lakh to ₹17.50 lakh depending on variant, but these are estimates from analysts and dealers, not numbers Hyundai has confirmed.

The unresolved battery question

The Inster EV, which shares the Ioniq P's platform, is sold abroad with a 42kWh or a 49kWh battery pack, with Autocar India reporting a claimed WLTP range of up to 355km on the larger pack. Hyundai has said the Ioniq P will come in standard range and long range versions for India, but has not disclosed battery sizes or range figures for the India specific car.

The bigger open question is where the cells will come from. Hyundai had planned to use locally made LFP cells from Exide Energy Solutions, the Exide Industries subsidiary that builds cells under licence from China's Svolt. Electrive.com reported on November 3 that Exide's line will not be ready in time, so Hyundai will import cells, reported to be from Svolt in China, for the car's first phase in India, with local supply through Exide expected to follow later. Neither company has given a firm date for that switch.

For Indian buyers, the car matters less for its name than for what it is meant to do: bring a Hyundai badged EV down to a price close to petrol compact SUVs. Whether it gets there depends on a battery supply deal that is still not finished.

Sources

• Hyundai entry-level EV for India expected to be called Ioniq P
• Hyundai Ioniq P name trademarked in India
• Hyundai announces new 'Ioniq P' EV for India
• Earnings call transcript: Hyundai Motor Q3 2026 misses estimates, trims outlook