Hyundai said it will cut the price of its Tucson fuel cell EV by approximately 43 percent in South Korea and is also considering lowering prices of the vehicle overseas in order to compete with vehicles from rival automakers like Toyota.
The world's fifth biggest automaker, when paired with sister company Kia Motors, wants to popularize fuel cell vehicles in its home market by dropping the price of the Tucson ix to 85 million won ($77,189).
The high price tag and the lack of refueling stations have been major roadblocks in Hyundai's attempt to popularize fuel cell electric vehicles over battery-powered options.
"The timing and other details of the markdown are not yet decided and will depend on the business conditions in Europe, but some predict that an announcement might be made during the Geneva International Motor Show (next month)," a Hyundai Motor official said, according to The Korea Herald.
South Korea has just one hydrogen fuel station, though another one is scheduled to open during the first half of 2015, according to Reuters. The South Korea government has a goal of increasing that number to 200 from 2025.
Hyundai has said on multiple occasion that it will invest 11 trillion won in the development of eco-friendly cars by 2020. The company also has plans to launch its second fuel cell model by 2020, according to Reuters.
"A significant price cut in the fuel-cell driven Tucson line of vehicles will allow higher supply volume for fuel-cell vehicles in general by making them more affordable for consumers," Hyundai said in a company statement on Monday to Reuters.
Toyota launched its Mirai fuel cell sedan in December with a pre-tax price tag of 6.7 million yen ($56,934). The automaker announced back on Jan. 15 its goal of selling at least 3,000 Mirai fuel cell sedans in the United States by the end of 2017.
Hyundai confirmed this week it has sold just 200 EVs so far, including in the U.S. and in Europe.
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