Hyundai returns to Japan with all-electric plan

Zooming in: Employees work on the production line at a Hyundai factory in the United States. Leading the company’s charge back into Japan’s hyper-competitive automobile market is the Ioniq 5, a compact sports-utility vehicle. — Bloomberg

THE last time Hyundai Motor Co sold a car in Japan was in 2009, when it pulled out after years of dismal sales. Now, South Korea’s top automaker is back, but with a twist: it’s only going to sell electric vehicles (EVs), and only online.

“We have prepared a lot, not to repeat the same mistake,” Jaehoon Chang, Hyundai’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. “We should know customers, we should know the market, with the right product and the right brand.”