Toyota and the electric car, that relationship that from the outside seems to be love-hate and from the inside it seems to make all the sense in the world. “Whatever the consumer asks for,” Toyota said and so it will do. Rationality applied to the automobile and electric car market. Including China.
The first step. Toyota is, at the moment, the largest car manufacturer in the world. In 2023, it placed 10.31 million vehicles on the market, far from Volkswagen’s reach, which stood at 9.24 million cars last year, according to figures collected by Statesman.
Toyota’s power has evidently been established in the hybrid car because the electric car has almost disappeared from its offer. The Toyota bZ4X has been a commercial failure, including a production run that has been full of headaches. The expected jump to electric cars from the world’s largest manufacturer has been a failure until now.
The electric for Toyota. These first steps have made many doubt Toyota’s real ability to adapt to the electric car. It is not the only Japanese company that is having difficulties and is reluctant to throw itself into the arms of this technology without any kind of contemplation.
In 2021, the company told us that it had a very ambitious plan for 2030. By then it expected to have launched up to 30 new battery-powered models on the market. However, the position of its leaders has been deviating from this objective over time. There has been talk that electric will not be the main option or that investing more money than already committed is “wasting it.”
However, the statements have been softened over time. To the point that the strategy seems marked by extreme rationality. The company will bet on electric power but only where regulations require it and whenever the public requests it. Europe and China, for example.
A special market. The big problem for Japanese manufacturers is that they are seeing how they are losing ground in China. Toyota, but also Honda and Nissan, are losing strength by leaps and bounds in a market that is turning towards local companies and is betting everything on the electric car.
In China, Toyota is allied with BYD. Regulators have forced the vast majority of brands to partner with local manufacturers in joint venture jointly to be able to trade within their borders. Of course, in the case of Toyota, allying with the most powerful Chinese giant at the moment allows it to put the Toyota bZ3 on the market, which is only sold in the Asian country.
The particularities are transversal to the mechanics of the vehicle itself. Foreign companies are finding it difficult to gain a foothold in the Chinese market because their vehicles are too expensive and do not adapt to the demands of customers who are increasingly betting more on a unique experience in the cabin and less on understanding the car exclusively as a means of transportation.
A success worth a factory. Despite this, Toyota seems to have found a vein to exploit in China. According to Nikkeithe company is holding talks with Chinese authorities to build a Lexus factory in the country. They want to be able to operate individually, like Tesla does, and not depend on a collaboration with a local company.
According to The Japan Timesthe company’s intention is to be able to manufacture its own Lexus vehicles in China starting in 2027. The conversations would have started after verifying the good results that these vehicles are giving in that market. In fact, in 2023 it will already sell 180,000 vehicles signed by Lexus in the Chinese market.
With a factory in the neighboring country, Toyota aspires to be able to produce Lexus cars at a lower Price but, above all, fulfill its commitments to jump to electric cars completely in 2035 with its signature premium and meet forecasts of selling one million electric Lexus in 2030, according to the Asian economic newspaper.
A vehicle by and for China. Among Toyota’s latest moves that seem to bring them closer to the Asian market is the launch of the Lexus LM, a minivan that is difficult to understand outside the Chinese market. In fact, it was at the Shanghai Motor Show where the model was presented.
The van can be configured with two huge seats in the back and a 48-inch screen, making passengers completely forget that they are inside a car. This trend, that of luxury minivans, has spread throughout China in recent times. Armchairs, gigantic screens and all kinds of accessories try to provide the customer with the best experience.
And two delays that give a clue. They point at Carscoop that there is another reason to assume that the talks between both parties appear to be advanced. A few days ago it was learned that the Lexus LF-ZC and LF-ZL were delayed until 2027.
This, they say, is important because they are electric vehicles that will be built using Giga Pressthe process that has made Tesla famous for significantly reducing productive times. This reduction in time represents a tremendous cost saving but requires building a plant from scratch, which is what Toyota would be looking for with this new location.
Photo | Lexus
In WorldOfSoftware | Toyota rethinks its strategy with the electric car: it will produce 33% less in 2026 and advances a figure that seems impossible
