Hyundai tops global hydrogen car sales from Jan-Oct

Nexo [Photo provided by Hyundai Motor]

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. beat its Japanese rivals by a mile to top global hydrogen vehicle sales in the first 10 month of this year, according to a market research company.

Global hydrogen car sales rose 8.8 percent to a total of 16,195 units in the January-October period from 14,879 a year ago, SNE Research said in a report on Monday.

Hyundai Motor sold 9,591 Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles in the 10-month period, far exceeding the sales of second-place Toyota Motor Corp.’s Mirai (2,897 units). In terms of market share, Nexo is 41.3 percentage points ahead with 59.2 percent versus Mirai’s 17.9 percent, which was followed by Honda Motor Co.’s Clarity (209 units) and SAIC Motor Corp.’s MAXUS EUNIQ7 (198 units).

Toyota and Honda continue to suffer from volume production due to shortage of chips in Japan. Honda sales remain sluggish as Clarity production was discontinued in August 2021, and China’s EUNIQ7 shows a gradual recovery in sales, SNE report said.

Toyota plans to sell its second-generation Mirai in China based on import models at the end of this year, while seeking local production in the future, which will help boost its market share, the report predicted.

Hyundai Motor recently obtained a New Energy Vehicle (NEV) license from Beijing authorities for its Chinese Nexo model, which has improved battery performance even at low temperatures. Hyundai Motor will reportedly considering selling its hydrogen electric heavy-duty Xcient trucks in China.