Hyundai Motor Co. will increase the production of its new fuel cell electrical vehicle (FCEV) to be released early next year by 15 times. This is part of efforts to hold Toyota, which competes with the company in the hydrogen powered car market, in check and to promote fuel cell vehicles as most popular eco-friendly cars along with electric vehicles.
According to industry sources on June 18, Hyundai Motor tentatively decided to produce 3,600 units of its fuel cell car dubbed “FE” to be rolled out in February next year. Considering the fact that the company sold 242 fuel cell cars last year, the figure is a whopping 1487 percent increase, which also surpasses Toyota’s sales goal of 3,0000 units this year.
Hyundai Motor launched the Tucson ix FCEV in 2013 for the first time in the world and sold 27 units the same year. The company had sold a total of 666 units for four years until last year. The growing demand is a favorable factor but obsolescence made the model lose the battle with Toyota’s Mirai due to the early release. The Mirai sold 2,843 units until last year after it was launched in 2014.