Global hydrogen car sales continue to fall amid collapse in South Korean market, despite surge in China and US
Sales for first seven months of 2023 are down 9.6% year on year, according to data from South Korea’s SNE Research
Worldwide sales of hydrogen-powered fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) dropped 9.6% year-on-year over the first seven months of 2023, amid a downturn in their largest market, South Korea, according to Korean consultancy SNE Research.
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While 5,534 FCEVs were sold between January and July 2022 in South Korea, this fell to 3,390 units over the same period this year.
But hydrogen fuel price hikes over the summer and vehicle options limited to the Hyundai Nexo or the Toyota Mirai have resulted in consumer reluctance to purchase FCEVs despite this government support.
As such, it is likely that the 2023 budget will be underspent, which may have prompted the budget cut, which is equivalent to around 7,000 fewer vehicles supported.
The Japanese market for hydrogen-powered cars has also continued to collapse, falling 63.4% year on year to just 235 FCEVs sold in the first seven months of 2023.
However, China has seen sales grow to 3,073 hydrogen-powered vehicles from January to July, a 66.8% growth year-on-year.
Meanwhile, although only 943 FCEVs were sold in the US between January and April — a 24.8% decrease year on year — another 1,390 were sold in the following three months, pushing the market into a 21% year-on-year growth for the first seven months.
Country
January-July 2022
January-July 2023
Percentage change
2022 market share
2023 market share
South Korea
5,534
13,390
-38.7%
52.0%
35.2%
China
1,842
3,073
66.8%
17.3%
31.9%
US
1,926
2,333
21.1%
18.1%
24.3%
Europe
634
566
-10.7%
6.0%
5.9%
Japan
642
235
-63.4%
6.0%
2.4%
Others
63
22
-65.1%
0.6%
0.2%
Total
10,641
9,619
-9.6%
100%
100%
But while South Korea’s auto industry has to date geared its FCEVs towards the domestic market, which represents more than 90% of sales in 2022, Japanese companies have generally pushed their hydrogen-powered passenger cars for export, with the Toyota Mirai making up 75% of FCEVs sold in the US.
So could China’s increasing share of demand for the vehicles lead to a major shift in supply?
“However, similar to BEVs, we do expect China to play a key role in fuel cell and vehicle component supply chains.
“Approximately a third of fuel cell-related suppliers are Chinese companies, while North America, South Korea and Europe are investing heavily in fuel cell manufacturing, especially in the heavy-duty sector.”
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