Back in 2001, Korean automaker Hyundai made their move to enter the Toyota-dominated Japanese automotive market. Less than a decade later, Hyundai packed up their cars, closed their offices, and left the country after years of poor sales. Fast forward to 2022, and Hyundai is making a comeback to Japan after a 12-year absence to challenge themselves once again in a country where local automakers reign supreme. Out of the 4.5 million cars sold in Japan in 2021, nine tenths were from domestic manufacturers such as Toyota, Nissan, or Honda.

There is however more room for competition in the Electric Vehicle market. With growing pressure to turn towards cleaner vehicles, Japan has seen an increase in EV sales over the past two years as it slowly recovered from the double-edged sword that the pandemic and chip crisis created.

While it isn’t uncommon to see Teslas and Nissan Leafs roaming the streets of Tokyo, EVs remain an overall rare sight and even rarer in the countryside. Japanese manufacturers’ slower pace in adapting to the EV market has allowed foreign EVs’ share in Japan to increase significantly, with Volkswagen AG and Stellantis leading the way. Such conditions made it the perfect stage for Hyundai to introduce their brand-new EV and hydrogen fuel cell models; respectively, the Ioniq 5 and the Nexo, a fuel cell vehicle we love.

But this time, customers will not be getting a traditional purchase experience. Hyundai is taking a less costly route all the while allowing potential customers to fully immerse in the Hyundai world; a combination of online sales with selected test drive locations that focuses exclusively on the Ioniq 5 and the Nexo.

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