Hyundai Motor Company announced today (8th) that it will enter the Japanese passenger car market again.
In Tokyo, Japan, they held a meeting with local media and declared a re-challenge.
After Hyundai withdrew from the Japanese passenger car market in 2009, it has been operating only in the commercial sector, such as buses.
The Japanese car market is considered the most impregnable in the global automobile industry.
This is partly due to the strong brand power, but also the tendency of consumers to prefer products made in their own country.
With the exception of German cars with a premium image, it is not easy to penetrate the Japanese car market with the so-called cost-effectiveness.
“The Japanese market is both a place to learn and a place to challenge.”
These words were said by Jae-Hoon Jang, president of Hyundai Motor Company, while explaining the reason for re-entering the Japanese market, and you can see that Hyundai has similar thoughts.
Take a look... Compete with eco-friendly vehicles
The Japanese passenger car market is a place where even global brands can hardly find a clue.
Considering this, Hyundai also plans to introduce eco-friendly vehicles such as NEXO (hydrogen car) and IONIQ 5 (electric vehicle) as its main models instead of conventional internal combustion engine cars.
In order to broaden the contact point with consumers, we plan to partner with a local company to provide a car-sharing service.
Japanese internal combustion engine vehicles have a solid foothold in the global market, including the United States, with excellent fuel efficiency and performance.
In the eco-friendly vehicle sector, we have been leading the market in hybrids that combine internal combustion engines and electricity.
Hydrogen cars were also put in so much effort at the national level that former Prime Minister Abe directly supported them.
However, since the main focus is hybrids, the electric vehicle sector, which has been trending recently, has been evaluated as relatively weak.
This is also the reason why Hyundai Motor Company threw a win-win in this field.
However, the prospects are not necessarily bright.
Toyota, which has been considered a latecomer in electric vehicles, unveiled 16 electric vehicles at the end of last year.
From small cars to mid-size cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, and sports cars, we have poured out almost all product lines.
Toyota has announced that it will introduce 30 electric vehicles by 2030 and achieve annual electric vehicle sales of 3.5 million units by then.
Furthermore, by 2035, all vehicles sold in the US, Europe, and China will be 100% electric.
Nissan has also declared that by 2030, more than half of global car sales will be made by electric vehicles such as electric and hydrogen.
To this end, it announced that it would invest about 2 trillion yen, or about 20.8 trillion won in Korean money, over the next five years to achieve electrification and technological innovation.
Another wall 'Japanese people's feelings'
There is another wall that must be overcome in order to succeed in Hyundai Motor's re-challenge after 12 years.
This is the unfavorable feeling Japanese people have for Korea.
At one time, the Korean wave had a lot of favoritism for Korea, but after diplomatic issues between Korea and Japan, such as the comfort women and Dokdo, started in earnest, the favorability of Korea also decreased.
Let's look at the figures released last month.
According to the results of a postal poll conducted by the Cabinet Office on the topic of diplomatic relations with 1,701 voters aged 18 and over nationwide from September to November last year, 62.5% of the respondents said they do not feel close to Korea.
Only 37% of the respondents answered that they 'feel familiarity'.
As mentioned earlier, Japan is a country famous for its high preference for its own brands.
It is questionable whether Japanese people, who are proud and loyal to their domestic brands, will readily reach out to a vehicle made in a country where they are not well-liked and that does not show clear competitiveness in technology or cost-effectiveness.
The good news is that the favorable sentiment toward Korea in Japan is gradually improving.
The response of 'I do not feel closeness to Korea' is gradually decreasing from 71.5% in 2019 to 64.5% in 2020 and 62.5% last year.
learn from success stories
Although it is not in the same automobile sector, the success stories in the Japanese market are worth learning.
Samsung Electronics, which is the only Korean company with the right to a medal if it holds the 'Corporate Olympics', also suffered a hardship in Japan.
The withdrawal from the Japanese home appliance market in 2007.
However, Samsung Electronics recorded an 11.1% market share in the Japanese smartphone market in 2020, taking third place after Apple with 46.5% and Sharp with 12%.
LG Electronics also started to target the Japanese market with small TVs in 2005, but withdrew after 3 years due to sluggish sales.
However, two years later, in 2010, it entered the TV full lineup again, and after more than 10 years of hard work, it reached a level where it could compete with local brands.
Of course, this was possible thanks to the efforts invested in technology and differentiation.
LG is ranked 3rd in Japanese OLED market share in 2020.
Hyundai Motor believes it is difficult to compete by establishing a dealer network in Japan, and plans to start selling online.
In addition, in order to enhance consumer accessibility and convenience, we are preparing a one-stop service that provides everything from test drive and purchase consultation to inspection and maintenance all at once.
A customer experience center, an experience base specializing in eco-friendly vehicles, is also planned to open in Yokohama this summer.
Although automobiles and home appliances are distinctly different, they both have one thing in common: they are traditional Japanese strong products.
As there are success stories in the home appliance market, it will not be impossible to target the automobile market.
Hyundai Motor's re-challenge in the Japanese market, which must penetrate the cold Japanese public mind along with its technological prowess, is scheduled to begin in May of this year.