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The Hyundai Ioniq 5 on the streets of Tokyo. — The Hyundai Ioniq 5 on the streets of Tokyo.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Hyperdrive

Hyundai Jumps Back Into Japan With an Online-Only, All-Electric Plan

The South Korean automaker is betting it can succeed a second time around, after retreating more than a decade ago.

By

Reed Stevenson and

February 3, 2022, 9:00 PM UTC

From

The last time Hyundai Motor Co. sold a car in Japan was in 2009, when it pulled out after years of dismal sales. Now, South Korea’s top automaker is back, but with a twist: it’s only going to sell electric vehicles, and only online.

“We have prepared a lot, not to repeat the same mistake,” Jaehoon Chang, Hyundai’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. “We should know customers, we should know the market, with the right product and the right brand.”