South Korean auto giant Hyundai is all set to enter Japan’s compact electric vehicle (EV) market with its cheapest model named as Inster. Hyundai is targeting a segment that has been dominated by locals for car manufactures yet it lowered the price of its electric blue hybrid to as low as 2.85 million yen ($18,000). Hitting the pricing competence appropriate to consumers in Japan, the Inster’s pricing strategy involves affordability.
Hyundai Targets Japan with $18,000 Inster Electric Vehicle
The Inster comes after several efforts by automobile firms from other nations such as Tesla to penetrate the Japanese market. Though electric vehicles are rapidly coming into fashion all over the world they do not take root in Japan as fast. The same approach is followed by Hyundai which, like China’s BYD, puts less expensive EVs at the established markets like Japan.
At 2.85 million yen, the Inster will be cheaper than the recently launched BYD Dolphin, which was priced at 3.63 million yen in Japan in 2023. This move dangles the Inster to compete in the budget EV space, which could assist Hyundai as EV market share remain low compared to other parts in this region.
The Inster was initially sold in South Korea as the Casper Electric and was later in Europe. With its commencement in Japan, the Inster is all set to be Hyundai’s cheapest electric car offering. In Japan, Hyundai will begin selling vehicles around mid this year, hence kicking off the penetration of the Japanese EV market.
Hyundai’s CEO of Mobility Japan Toshiyuki Shimegi announced the plan at the Tokyo Auto Salon motor show, which is a pointer to Hyundai, the South Korean automobile manufacturing giants, sealed intention to key into electric vehicles market in Japan with this announcement. As currently most of the cars released to the market are traditional petrol-powered cars, but Hyundai taking a low-cost approach with Inster could quickly shift the market to electric mobility in the region.
Japanese EV Market Struggles as Nissan’s Sakura Sales Decline
For example, the Nissan Sakura in the Japan’s kei car segment was the hottest selling EV which costs 2.60 million yen. The car is affordable and small which appeals to the Japanese market most especially to car owners within urban areas. However, analysing the Sakura’s sales numbers puts a rather uncomfortable light on the future of the nation’s EV market.
Next year market share of Nissan Sakura was below 23,000 units, thus demonstrating nearly 40% from 2023. This decline is evidence of the conditions that electric vehicles are experiencing in Japan; the market that has been slow to adapt to the transition to EVs as the world embraces change. Although the company was able to price its new model competitively with attractive compact features, the low sales numbers of the Sakura are a good indicator of the challenges posed to EVs in the country.
Still, the Japanese market for passenger cars is dominated by conventional vehicles, petrol-engined cars, with sales estimated to be around 4 million per annum. On the other hand, electric vehicle sales have not exhibited the level of demand as other markets like Europe and North America. This decline in sales of Sakura reveals that adoption of EVs in Japan is still a steep slope.
To an extent, the shortcomings of Nissan’s Sakura, currently holding the record for the most popular EV in Japan, are typical for the entirety of the country. At the same time, because the automobile is small, cheap and suited to the urban environment, it reveals that the demand for EVs does not extend beyond enthusiasts and those able to afford traditional hybrids at present. Such a performance is different from the improvements observed in other countries that have achieved significant adoption of EVs.
The sluggishness of the market in Japan leads to questions about the country’s preparedness for the shift in mobility to electrical vehicles. While there is government support in Japan and global pressure to reduce emissions is forcing changes, the absence of the consumer desire for cars like the Nissan Sakura shows that there is still much work to be done to change attitudes and build the infrastructure necessary for electric vehicles to succeed in Japan.
Hyundai Aims to Boost Japan Sales Tenfold with Inster EV Launch
Hyundai’s sedans in Japan are still struggling to sell in the competitive auto market the next year, only managing to sell 607 units. In contrast, Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD sold 2,223 vehicles and Tesla did not report its Japan sales. This is in contrast, of course, with Hyundai’s task of finding a clearly defined and efficient way to appeal to Japanese consumers, who overwhelmingly stick with native Japanese carmakers such as Toyota or Honda.
Hyundai new electric vehicle called Inster is central to its plan to increase sales in Japan. As problems with increased sales of electric cars to Europe arise, Hyundai’s CEO in Japan Toshiyuki Shimegi said that the Inster is introducing a design that will appeal to Japanese consumers to achieve the company’s goal of boosting sales by tenfold within the next five years. The Inster is an economic model, which, along with the relatively low price and compactness, is Hyundai’s main asset in the ongoing penetration into the Japanese market.
Hyundai recently launched new models in the Japanese market to regain new sales after leaving the passenger car market in 2009. This time the company has come back into the automobile business addressing to the fresh apparent need of electric and fuel cell vehicles in the global market. This however does not ease the competition that Hyundai has to fight against other local giants such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
Nevertheless, Hyundai intends to secure a space in the Japanese market in which domestic car makers possess a strangle hold. The goal of the re-entry strategy of the company has been laid down based on three areas innovation, sustainability and affordability, The Inster EV has been chosen to underline the determination of the Hyundai to stick to the Japanese buyer.
With Hyundai still struggling to develop its market share in japan, the realization of the Inster is expected to define the stand of the company in the market in the long run. Hyundai wants to sell more EVs in the country and gain a presence in one of the largest and most important automotive markets in the world despite low sales now dominated by local titans.
