Although Korean cars are becoming increasingly popular in major markets, including China, around the world, they have not penetrated the Japanese market and it is only this year that Hyundai Motor is returning to Japan. The company tried in 2001 and stayed for 8 years, pulling out after selling only 15,000 units.
It’s not a big market for imported makes as the total share for all foreign brands is only around 8%. With electrification growing, the Korean carmaker believes it now has products that will appeal more to Japanese consumers. Earlier this year, it launched the IONIQ 5 and hydrogen-fuelled NEXO EV. The latter model can be offered as Japan is steadily building a hydrogen refuelling network around the country.
Hyundai’s return seems to have been met more positively this time as the IONIQ 5 has been picked to be among the Best 11 Cars in the 2022-2023 Japan Car of The Year (JCOTY) program. There are 11 instead of the usual 10 because there was a tie. These are essentially the finalists from a list of nominees that had 48 models this year (the NEXO was included as well). It is probably the first time that Korean model is appearing in a JCOTY list as we can’t remember any other occasion in previous years.
Of the 48 models, 30 were foreign brands and for some years now, the foreign brands also have a chance to win the overall title. Before, there was a separate award for ‘Best Import Car of the Year’ and the JCOTY title was only for Japanese brands. The first foreign model to win the overall award was the Volkswagen Golf 7 in the 2013-2014 JCOTY.
This year, among the Best 11 Cars, 4 models are from foreign brands – the BMW iX, Hyundai IONIQ5, Range Rover and Renault Arkana. The Japanese models are the Suzuki Alto, Nissan X-Trail, Nissan Fairlady Z, Mazda CX-60 e-SKYACTIV-D, Toyota Crown, Nissan Mitsubishi Sakura/eK, and Honda Civic e:HEV/Civic Type R.
Now in its 43rd year, JCOTY is organized and managed by the Japan Car of the Year Executive Committee. Models which qualify for judging are those officially released in the Japanese domestic car market from November 1 of the previous year to October 31 of the current year.
Final assessment of the 11 models will be done by the 60 jury members at the Sodegaura Forest Raceway in the Chiba Prefecture on November 24. The winner will be announced during the afternoon of December 8, 2022.
To know more about Honda models in Malaysia, visit www.honda.com.my. – By Chips Yap