Misaeng, Wansaeng, and flower festival. A paving stone, a trick, a trick, a game of winning, an irrational move, a Buddhist precept, a simple step, too big to fail, a hero, a situation.
Those of you who are astute will know that these are all Baduk terms .
Every time I make a move, I feel mixed emotions of joy, anger and sorrow. This may be the reason why baduk is called ‘a microcosm of life’ and is used as an economic term or in the title of a drama.
The term Go also fits perfectly when analyzing the eco-friendly automobile market, which is constantly laughing and crying. There is no better way to explain the ‘conversion’ of eco-friendly cars.
Hybrid is Toyota’s winning move to ‘get rid of oil’
The car model that has blossomed into the era of eco-friendly cars is the hybrid car ( HV ). HV appeared because of the first and second oil shocks.
During the Middle East War in 1973-1974, the Arab oil-producing countries’ policy of weaponizing oil caused the first oil crisis, and the drastic reduction in oil production caused by the Iranian Revolution in 1978-1980 caused the second oil crisis.
Due to the oil crisis, interest in ‘small cars’ that consume less oil has increased. Toyota and Honda, car brands created by ‘reduction-oriented Japanese’, were a boon to increase their global influence.
Toyota and Honda have grown into global brands by targeting the U.S. and Europe with fuel-efficient, reasonably priced vehicles with high cost-effectiveness (price-performance ratio).
While Toyota was on the verge of abandoning its position, it decided to ‘free itself from oil’. This is because we believe that there are limits to fuel savings and carbon dioxide emissions reduction with the existing internal combustion engine alone.
The first result and first step was the HV concept car that Toyota unveiled at the 1977 Tokyo Motor Show .
However, due to the limitations of internal combustion engine vehicles and batteries that were revived after the oil crisis, it existed as a forgotten paving stone in a corner of the checkerboard for 20 years. HV
, which had been leaving stones in empty spaces one after another under the leadership of the internal combustion engine, reached its golden age 20 years later when the issue of environmental pollution became a hot topic again in the global automobile market. Toyota did not miss the opportunity and took advantage of the paving stones. Where the HV concept car was first introduced, the HV mass-produced car appeared. This is the ‘ original HV ’ Toyota Prius. Sales of the first-generation Prius, which was in sedan form, were sluggish at first due to its higher price than similar sedans. The number of units sold in the first year was only 318. The fact that it was sold only in Japan also served as a limitation. However, sales gradually increased as it attracted the attention of environmentally conscious consumers. In 2000, cumulative sales exceeded 50,000 units. A total of 120,000 units were sold until it was discontinued in 2003. The second-generation Prius, which appeared in 2003, is a model that increased HV value. It has expanded beyond Japan and into the world, entering the North American and European markets.
It has also gained popularity as an eco-friendly car that can practice ‘noblesse oblige’. Top Hollywood stars, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Harrison Ford, Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts, and Brad Pitt, known as environmentalists, bought the Prius, which is not a luxury car, one after another.
It also set a record as the best-selling car in California, where Hollywood is located. Cumulative sales exceeded 500,000 units in 2006 and 1 million units in 2008, respectively.
The Prius also influenced Toyota’s rival brand, Honda. The HV , launched competitively by Toyota and Honda, ushered in the era of eco-friendly cars. It has become a ‘flower viewing party’ for the two brands.
In the mid-2010s, powerful and clean ‘clean diesel cars’ briefly threatened HV .
However, in their desire to quickly take the lead in eco-friendly cars, they made ‘irrational measures’ and were even caught for their ‘trick’ of manipulating emissions. Dieselgate has become a ‘handshake’ for internal combustion engine vehicles. HV,
which not only overcame the crisis but also took the opportunity of ‘non-succession’, went beyond ‘incomplete life’ and moved towards ‘full life’. ‘Too big to fail’. HV , full of confidence, helped electric vehicles ( EVs ) take the lead. In fact, EV was able to emerge because HV first developed technology and grew the market through trial and error. Toyota, the ‘ King of HV ’ , has decided that EV will one day become the mainstream eco-friendly car. But EV
It was thought that it would take at least 20 years to completely change the framework of the internal combustion engine automobile industry, which has been established as a national basic industry for over 100 years, for it to become mainstream. It is expected that HVs
will exist as profitable vehicles for the next 20 years, serving as a bridge in the ‘slow’ transition from internal combustion engine vehicles to EVs . As interest in eco-friendly cars increases due to EVs , there are also expectations that HV sales will increase further. Moreover, at the time , EVs were not of interest due to their limited driving range outside of ‘high-water areas’ and the lack of charging systems. It was a natural decision at the time.
Tesla flower festival takes a hit due to charging and safety issues
A variable has appeared. This is Elon Musk’s Tesla. The Tesla Model 3, equipped with the weapon of ‘innovation’, a range that exceeds the average, and price competitiveness, has become a ‘act of God.’ The EV
era , which was slowly approaching, has been brought forward rapidly. It sparked a Tesla investment craze and even created a loyal group called ‘Teslam’ (Tesla + Islam). Inspired by the Model 3, which increased its power from a gust of wind to a typhoon, global automobile brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW , Audi, Volvo, Porsche, Hyundai Motor Company, Kia, Genesis, Polestar, Volkswagen, and MINI rushed to enter the market. EV ‘s flower festival has now begun. On the contrary , HV has become an outdated eco-friendly car. If you eat quickly, you will lose weight. The EV era, which was brought forward more quickly than expected in a ‘battle of numbers’ with HV , encountered difficulties such as lack of charging systems, fire outbreaks, and increased electricity prices. Side effects continued to arise as the charging infrastructure was installed in accordance with the number of units sold and the ‘procedures’ of sufficiently verifying battery safety were not followed. There are even people screaming, “I’m going to get killed trying to charge an electric car.”As the ‘phase’ changed, HV , which was quickly dismissed as a car model that would fail due to EV , was given the opportunity to ‘too big to fail’ again. With the addition of plug-in hybrid ( PHEV ), an HV that is closer to EV , the survival period has increased significantly. Furthermore, until charging and safety technologies are developed, it will once again take on the role of a ‘popular eco-friendly car’. The number of units sold is also increasing. According to Global Fortune Business Insight, this year’s global HV market size is expected to grow 19.2% from last year to $271.8 billion (KRW 360 trillion). It is predicted that it will grow at an average annual rate of 7.3% and reach $443.91 billion (approximately KRW 588 trillion) in 2030.
HV sales are also on the rise in Korea, which serves as a ‘test bed’ for the global automobile market .
According to the Kaizuyu Data Research Institute, which uses statistics from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 151,108 HVs were sold in the first half of this year (January to June). Compared to the same period last year, sales increased by 42.9%.
EVs sold 78,466 units, a 13.7% increase from the same period last year. Hybrid cars sold nearly twice as many as electric cars, and sales growth was faster.
Last year, hybrid cars and electric cars increased by 14.3% and 63.8%, respectively, compared to the previous year. The increase in hybrid cars has accelerated this year.
Hyundai Motor Company’s Grandeur, Kia Sorento, and Lexus ES led the popularity of hybrids먹튀검증.
As the EV trend took a hit, Musk, who had been trying to increase profitability through repeated price increases, threw a winning move called ‘price reduction’.
From the perspective of consumers who need to buy a new electric vehicle, this will be welcomed as a ‘trick’. On the other hand, as prices continue to rise to the point where people say, “Buying now is the cheapest,” it may be considered a ‘trick’ by buyers who bought it at a high price.
New car price cuts lead to a decline in the value of used cars. Consumers who purchased products at a high price may end up as ‘boogers’ who suffer damage twice.
Neither EV nor
HV are ‘perfect’ in terms of safety.
Now is the time to ‘restore’ both EV and HV . There is a saying that the more urgent you are, the better you should go back. HV
, which is considered to be a perfect life , and EV , which was racing towards perfection, are still imperfect things that need to continue to develop. Above all, EVs still have a lot of work to do in terms of charging, safety, and cost. Even if you solve all of these, there is a high possibility that another problem will arise. It is said that the phrase ‘easy jaebing’ is popular these days. It is an abbreviation of the refrain from the song ‘Bingo’ by the turtle group, famous for the songs ‘Four Seasons’ and ‘Airplane’. It means, “If you live an easy life, it’s no fun, bingo.” If you make tea easily, you may hear people say, “Then I thought it wouldn’t be fun.” Above all, there is no easy path to safety that protects human life. Internal combustion engine vehicles, which have dominated the automobile market for over 100 years and were considered perfect, are still lacking in safety. When you look at EVs these days , it seems like more effort is being put into making them smarter and more stylish than on safety. Like a smartphone. There are also concerns that they may use ‘tricks’ such as neglecting safety issues in order to sell more by increasing price competitiveness.
Cars can both protect and threaten human life. Unlike smartphones, safety takes precedence over innovation.
In some ways, I’m glad that I have a bit more distance to go. As we ‘recover’, won’t both HV and EV be able to find better ‘moves’ in the next game?