BYD, a major Chinese EV = electric vehicle, has started selling EV passenger cars in Japan from January 31st.
Attention will be paid to how much the entry of the world's second largest EV manufacturer will affect trends in the Japanese EV market.
China's BYD is a major manufacturer that sells EVs in more than 70 countries and regions around the world, and is the second largest EV market in the world after Tesla in the United States.
The company announced its entry into the Japanese passenger car market in July last year, and from the 31st, it started selling SUV = multi-purpose sports vehicle type EV.
It has a range of about 480 kilometers on a single charge and is equipped with the latest safety technology such as automatic braking.
The price is 4.4 million yen, which is about 1 million yen cheaper than EVs of domestic manufacturers with the same mileage.
With this EV as the first step, the company plans to sell three types of EVs, a compact car and a sedan type, by the end of the year, and is ready to gain a share of the Japanese market in earnest.
At a preview held for the press at a store in Yokohama, BYD Auto Japan President Atsuki Tofukuji said, "We would like to work to promote brand recognition little by little so that when you hear BYD, you will think of an EV." rice field.
Domestic and foreign manufacturers are launching EVs in the Japanese market one after another, and as competition intensifies, attention will be focused on how much the entry of the world's second largest EV manufacturer will affect market trends.
EV sales volume Rapid growth in major overseas markets
With the global shift to EVs, the number of EVs sold is growing rapidly in major overseas markets such as China and Europe.
According to research firm MarkLines, more than 4.8 million EV passenger cars were sold in China and 800,000 in the United States last year.
Also the percentage of EVs in the total sales of passenger cars.
▽ 21% in China
▽ 5.8% in the United States,
which greatly exceeds 1.7% in Japan.
According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, over 870,000 EV passenger cars were sold in Europe in 2018, up 63% from the previous year and accounting for 9.1% of total sales. increase.
In addition, according to research firm MarkLines, the number of EVs sold by major manufacturers in major markets around the world, including Japan, last year was
▽ Tesla in the United States, with more than 1.29 million units,
followed by
▽ BYD in China has over 870,000 units
, and GM = General Motors in the United States has over 700,000 units, with
foreign manufacturers occupying the top positions.
Japanese manufacturers, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Co., Ltd., which are affiliated with Renault of France, have a combined total of more than 310,000 units, ranking sixth, but the reality is that the presence of Japanese manufacturers is not high.
Furthermore, in the Japanese market itself, the pace of EV penetration is slower than in major overseas markets.
According to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and other sources, among the passenger cars sold in Japan last year, the number of EVs, including mini cars, was over 58,000, a significant increase of 2.7 times from the previous year. However, it still accounts for only 1.7% of total sales.
In addition to the lack of charging infrastructure, the background to the slow spread is the heavy reliance on thermal power generation for electricity.
However, overseas manufacturers are stepping up their offensive in anticipation of future growth in the Japanese EV market, which is currently small.
Last year, Germany's Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, as well as South Korea's Hyundai, launched new models one after another, selling more than 14,000 EVs in total.
Among Japanese manufacturers, sales of minicar-sized EVs jointly developed by Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors increased significantly, but competition is intensifying as overseas manufacturers step up their offensive.