Author: Kantaro Komiya
CHIBA, Japan (Reuters) – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor ( OTC: ) said on Friday it will introduce the cheapest compact electric car in Japan, to break into a market dominated by local giants with established gasoline and hybrid vehicle technologies.
The launch of the Hyundai Inster in Japan follows attempts by Tesla (NASDAQ: ) and other foreign brands to enter a country that has seen slow adoption of electric vehicles. With the Inster, Hyundai will adopt a low-price strategy similar to China’s leading electric vehicle maker, BYD (SZ: ).
The entry-level model’s 2.85 million yen ($18,000) price will be the lowest for a compact electric car in Japan, below the 3.63 million yen BYD set in 2023 with its Dolphin.
The Inster, which debuted in Europe last year after launching in South Korea as the Casper Electric, will be delivered to Japanese customers starting in May, Hyundai Mobility Japan CEO Toshiyuki Shimegi told a news conference during the Tokyo auto show.
In Japan’s limited-power ultra-compact “kei car” category, the Nissan ( OTC: ) Motor Sakura sells for ¥2.60 million and is the country’s most popular electric vehicle.
But even the Sakura had fewer than 23,000 vehicles sold last year, a drop of nearly 40% from 2023, industry data showed, underscoring the lack of popularity of electric vehicles in Japan’s passenger car market of roughly 4 million annual sales.
Hyundai sold only 607 vehicles in Japan last year, while BYD sold 2,223. Tesla did not disclose its sales in Japan.
“Inster is our key product to win the recognition of Japanese customers,” Shimegi said, adding that it helps Hyundai meet its goal of increasing sales in Japan tenfold in the next five years.
Hyundai, which with Kia forms the world’s third-largest car group, has re-entered the Japanese passenger car market in 2022 with only electric and fuel cell vehicles, after pulling out in 2009 due to low sales in the country it dominates Toyota Motor (NYSE:), Honda (NYSE:) Motor and other Japanese automotive companies.
($1 = 158,0000 yen)
