Report: Hyundai To Return To Japan, But Only With Electric Cars

Hyundai Ioniq 5 coming to Japan?

Hyundai Ioniq 5

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Feb 6, 2022 at 5:29pm ET

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Hyundai is expected to return to the Japanese car market, after retiring in 2009 when the company was not satisfied with its sales results.

According to a new Bloomberg report and an interview with Jaehoon Chang, Hyundai’s chief executive officer, the company is now well prepared to not repeat the previous mistakes.

The most interesting part is that as far as Japan is considered, only all-electric cars will be sold, starting with the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Moreover, Hyundai cars will be sold only online, which suggests a more direct approach. We will probably know more details once the plan is officially announced - later this month, according to Bloomberg.

“We’ve experienced huge growth on the EV side in Korea, and we’re expecting the same thing will happen even faster in Japan,” - Jaehoon Chang, Hyundai CEO

The article indicates however that the Hyundai EV sales goal will be "definitely" higher than "the 15,000 gasoline-engine cars sold during its prior foray".

Japan - after a strong start - has not become a major all-electric car market. In 2021, some 4.5 million vehicles were sold and BEVs were far below 1% share.

In 2022, finally, we will see some more new BEV models, including the all-new Toyota bZ4X/Subaru Solterra and Nissan Ariya. There is also Tesla in the equation, which notes relatively good sales numbers.

What do you think?

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The Hyundai Ioniq 5 would be an interesting addition. It was first launched in South Korea and Europe (ramp-up) and most recently in the U.S. and Canada.

The Ioniq 5 will be followed by Hyundai Ioniq 6 sedan and Hyundai Ioniq 7 large SUV - all based on the E-GMP platform, utilized also by the latest Kia and Genesis electric cars.