The world’s third-largest motor group, Hyundai, is ready to penetrate the Chinese EV market, which is currently dominated by local brands, and will soon launch the most affordable electric car, Inster. This EV debuted in Europe in June 2024 and will be available for Japanese residents in May this year. Hyundai’s plan to launch Inster in Japan is followed by Tesla’s and other renowned brands’ attempts to enter the Japanese EV market.
South Korean Hyundai will implement a low-price strategy with Inster, like BYD, a Chinese multinational automobile company. The Hyundai Inster will have an approximate 2.85 million yen ($18,000) tag on it, which is the lowest for an EV in Japan. It will be lower than even BYD Dolphin, which sold at approximately 3.63 million yen in 2023.
Currently, Nissan Motor’s Sakura is the most popular car in Japan, sold at 2.60 million yen. It’s a Japanese ultra-compact electric car from the Kia category and has limited power. However, an industry tally revealed that even Sakura experienced a decrease in sales last year, with 23,000 cars sold, a 40% decrease from 2023. This means EVs aren’t popular in the Japanese market, which accounts for around 4 million vehicle sales annually.
Hyundai re-entered the Japanese car market in 2022 with only fuel and electric cell vehicles after exiting in 2009 after the lowest sales in the region. At that time, Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, and some other Japanese brands were dominating the market, which resulted in Hyundai’s exit. Hyundai sold only 607 vehicles in Japan in 2024, so it will be seen what happens with Hyundai Inster.
