Hyundai Motor Co. has announced plans to roll out two electric vehicle (EV) models in Japan by the beginning of next year. This move is part of the company’s strategy to increase sales in the Japanese market.
At present, Hyundai is selling the Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle and the Ioniq 5 midsize crossover through an online-only sales platform, without dealerships, in Japan. It will add the Kona Electric this year and the high-performance Ioniq 5 N model early next year to its Japanese lineup.
In May 2020, Hyundai reentered the Japanese market after a 12-year absence due to poor sales, as the rising demand for all-electric vehicles has created new opportunities in the market dominated by Toyota Motor Corp.
When Hyundai initially entered the market in 2001, it sold only 15,000 gasoline cars, leading to its withdrawal from the country in 2009.
This time, Hyundai has adopted a different approach by offering Japanese customers places to experience its cars and receive repair services for Hyundai cars in major cities such as Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Yokohama and Kyoto since last year.
In June of this year, Hyundai signed an initial agreement with Japanese culture content firm Culture Convenience Club (CCC) for partnerships in car-sharing mobility services, data-based marketing and an EV experience platform in Japan.
As part of the car-sharing services, Hyundai has provided the all-electric IONIQ 5 equipped with Hyundai Motor Group’s dedicated EV platform named E-GMP and its charging facility at the large-scale bookstore Daikanyama T-Site Tsutaya, operated by CCC.
Hyundai also plans to promote its battery electric vehicles through joint marketing projects with CCC and to give Japanese consumers opportunities to experience its zero-emission cars through the EV experience program.
Hyundai’s vehicle sales have been gradually increasing since its reentry, though not significantly. Its sales rose 22 percent to 263 units in the January-August period from 216 units a year earlier.
From January to August, the maker of Sonata sedans and the Santa Fe SUVs sold a total of 2,765,554 autos in global markets, up 8.6 percent from 2,546,496 a year earlier.