August was a really bad sales month for Hyundai electric cars.
Let’s see the figures for the domestic and exportation markets.
Hyundai Kona Electric
Hyundai IONIQ Electric
Hyundai sales by model in 2018
Last month was terrible, but since September marks the end of the third quarter, we can expect a considerable sales boost for this month. However, it’s a shame that the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group produce great electric cars in such low number.
In my opinion the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group is missing a golden opportunity here. Because when the two auto giants Toyota and Volkswagen finally wake up for electric cars they’ll go all in and smaller automakers will be in problem.
I foresee that in 2 years from now, Toyota will finally realize that a super efficient Toyota Prius EV just needs a 40 kWh battery (costing around 4.000 €) to become a much better car in almost every way than its current hybrids. Upcoming low-cobalt content NCAM and NCM 811 batteries will make ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) and hybrid cars obsolete sooner than most of us think.
Regarding Volkswagen, the much-awaited Neo seems to be a real mass production electric car aimed to slowly replace the best selling Volkswagen Golf, which Volkswagen sells on average half a million units per year just in Europe.
Nissan is also siting on its hands with its pioneer status, instead of solving the LEAF’s high battery degradation and slow charging problem by adding a TMS (Thermal Management System). It’s that simple! They already have a great and reliable car.
Yet, there is bright side in all of this. With their slow transition to electric cars, legacy automakers are allowing more competition to enter into the car industry. They are giving newcomers like Tesla a big head start and will probably regret it later…
What do you think? Will Hyundai increase production of its electric cars before the awaking of the giants? Or will it miss this one-time golden opportunity?
Thanks Illia Drobchak for the heads up.
