Will Hyundai Motor, chasing BYD, work as a card of reversal in 2026

*This content was translated by AI.

Korea's Hyundai Motor and China's BYD, which entered Japan around the same time, are both striving to settle in the market with the image of eco-friendly cars. Among them, if you look at the sales volume after entering 2022, Hyundai Motor is showing regret by showing a slightly lower performance than China's BYD.

Looking at the sales of the two companies in Japan over the past three years, Hyundai Motor started with 526 units in its first year of debut, and has since risen to 392 units in 2023, 618 units in 2024, and 1,169 units in 2025, while BYD has a relative advantage of 1,446 units in 2023, 2,223 units in 2024, and 3,879 units in 2025. This year's two-month sales were also 135 units of Hyundai Motor and 850 units of BYD in January and February, indicating that BYD is on the rise.

However, in 2026, the difference between the two companies is expected to become clear as electric vehicle subsidies are reorganized in Japan. First of all, before the subsidy reform, the BYD Ato 3 was much cheaper than the Hyundai Ioniq 5, but this year, as the subsidy gap widened, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 became a cheaper car. In particular, expectations grew in Japan as Casper EV (local name 'Inster') became a hot topic. This is also highlighted by the remarkable numbers in sales in January and February of this year.

As subsidies are essential for the purchase of electric vehicles, in 2026, the difference between Hyundai Motor and BYD's subsidies has become very large. Hyundai Motor is recognized for its technology in hydrogen infrastructure and receives subsidies of up to 1 million yen to 1.3 million yen, while BYD is only half of this. This is the result of poor performance-oriented strategy and infrastructure investment. As a result, BYD plans to expand its lineup by putting PHEV into the Japanese market this year. It is based on a 'hybrid' that is familiar to Japanese consumers.

Comparing the sales strategies of the two companies in Japan, Hyundai Motor is an offline experience-based online sales model, while BYD called for strong localization, indicating that it will put a total of 100 exhibition halls into offline networks in 2025. In addition, Hyundai Motor will purchase online, but will use a hybrid method by distinguishing offline purchase experiences. As a result, the number of branches of the two companies is significantly smaller than that of BYD.

In conclusion, the probability that the subsidy gap will be an opportunity for Hyundai in Japan is very high for now. This is because Hyundai Motor models, which lagged behind BYD in price competitiveness, are more likely to be superior in terms of actual purchasing competitiveness thanks to subsidies.

Meanwhile, at Hyundai Mobility Japan, Chung, the eldest son of Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, is working as a regular employee. The fact that he chose the Japanese corporation (HMJ) as the first stage of his management class shows how important Hyundai Motor considers the strategic value of the Japanese market.

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*This content was translated by AI.