Hyundai IONIQ sets sales record in South Korea; is the perfect EV for taxi services

After making its first appearance at the Geneva Motor Show, Hyundai’s IONIQ is now breaking sales records in South Korea. The automaker set a new sales record in South Korea with a total of 1,425 units sold in November, the breakup of sales gives plenty hints that customers are looking for electric vehicles (EVs) instead of hybrids.

Looks like the demands for EVs is high, high enough to break sales records in South Korea. A report by PushEVs delves into the details of this record sales which hints that customers are interested in EVs and hybrid vehicles.

Out of the 1,425 IONIQ units sold in South Korea, 1,085 units were of the electric variant while 345 were of the hybrid variant. This is impressive for the EV industry since the electric variant of the IONIQ costs 10,000 euros more than the hybrid version.

Another reason cited by the publication for the sales success is probably because the electric version has no competition in that market. The hybrid variant on the other hand sees competition from brands like Toyota.

The sedan’s unmatched fuel efficiency also translates into low running costs which makes it ideal for taxi services. With companies like Singapore’s Nutonomy going in for EVs for autonomous taxi services, we could soon see a surge in EV sales coming more from businesses than individual customers.

Out here in India, all electric sedans have yet to arrive. Toyota has yet to launch its Hybrid Prius, and same can be said about Tesla . Hyundai is expected to launch its first electric vehicle in the form of the IONIQ in India in 2017. The same goes for Toyota’s fuel efficient Prius hybrid , that is expected to return to the Indian market with an early 2017 launch.