Hyundai Motor has maintained its position as the world's leader of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market in the first quarter of 2022.
South Korea's top automaker sold a total of 1,710 hydrogen cars so far in 2022, down 5.4 percent from the same period last year. However, despite the decline attributed to lower sales of its NEXO cars, Hyundai accounted for 43.4 percent of the 3,939 hydrogen vehicles sold globally in the first quarter, outperforming Toyota with 33.9%.
The market research firm SNE Research reported on Tuesday that the global market for hydrogen-powered vehicles contracted 2.7% between January and March compared to the same period of 2021, according to South Korea news agency Yonhap.
The falling sales of Hyundai’s NEXO and Toyota’s Mirai, both leading the hybrid cars market, is attributed to external elements such as the global chips shortage and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Toyota ranked second, selling 1.337 unit, down 31.8% from 2021, due to the sharp decline in the sales of the 2nd generation of its Mirai hybrid car.
Meanwhile, BMW and Mercedes-Benz announced they are selling their car-sharing joint venture Share Now to Stellantis for an undisclosed sum, they said on Tuesday, instead focusing on the more promising software of their mobility alliance.
The sale follows Share Now's retreat from the North American car-sharing market in 2019 in response to high maintenance costs and what the companies then described as the "volatile state of the global mobility landscape".
Italian-French peer Stellantis, in turn, will beef up its mobility division Free2move via the deal, hoping a global push to cut emissions will also drive demand for car-sharing and open up new profit streams.
The acquisition will help Stellantis, formed just over a year ago through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA, to boost its position as one of the global leaders in shared mobility. With around 11,000 cars, Share Now is active in 16 major European cities and has around 3.4 million customers.
