{"id":242839,"date":"2023-05-10T11:51:03","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T15:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=242839"},"modified":"2023-05-10T11:51:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T15:51:16","slug":"toyotas-next-gen-ev-debuting-in-autumn-and-could-reveal-new-ceos-shift-in-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2023\/05\/toyotas-next-gen-ev-debuting-in-autumn-and-could-reveal-new-ceos-shift-in-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Toyota\u2019s Next-Gen EV Debuting in Autumn \u2014 and Could Reveal New CEO\u2019s Shift in Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With a new CEO in place who appears to be more focused on EVs than his predecessor, the world could get a sense of Toyota Motor Corp.\u2019s new direction when it lifts the covers on its next-generation battery-electric vehicle in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Toyota
Toyota CEO Koji Sato suggested the company’s new EV coming in October may be indicative of the change that’s coming.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

During an earnings call on Wednesday, Chief Executive Koji Sato<\/a><\/span><\/strong> offered some insight into Toyota\u2019s new EV strategy, revealing plans to increase spending by decade\u2019s end to 5 trillion yen, or $36.9 billion at current exchange rates. That\u2019s 1 trillion yen, or $7.39 billion, more than the plan set in motion by the recently retired Akio Toyoda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Toyota was a pioneer of electrification, Toyoda, the grandson of the automaker\u2019s founder, was a skeptic when it came to all-electric models, preferring to emphasize hybrids, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. But after facing criticism for the company\u2019s first two long-range EVs, Toyoda launched an internal study to rethink the company\u2019s strategy. And the concept vehicle set to debut at the Japan Mobility Show is meant to show the new direction being taken by CEO Sato.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRather than explaining in words, we thought it was much better to have you see the concept models and give us your feedback,\u201d Chief Technology Officer Hiroki Nakajima said during Wednesday\u2019s briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New EV brings new thinking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Boosting the EV budget is only one of the changes Toyota is making. As a result of the study launched last year, the carmaker reportedly put on hold work on some of the future EVs it was already developing. Among other things, Toyota is expected to shift away from the architecture that underpins its first two long-range models, the Toyota bZ4X and Lexus RZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Akio
Toyota’s chief Akio Toyoda continued to warn against a complete shift to EVs, even as he moved into retirement.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also expected to rethink the mix of all-electric products former chief executive Toyoda highlighted during a December 2021 webcast<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this Wednesday\u2019s presentation, his successor teased the concept vehicle coming this autumn, indicating it will reach production in 2026. A schematic he showed revealed a wedge-shaped design with a long wheelbase, steeply raked windshield and a fastback roofline, according to Automotive News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future EVs, Toyota officials explained, will yield \u201cgreater efficiency\u201d while also designed to \u201cset hearts racing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost to the end of his tenure, Akio Toyoda was one of the industry\u2019s biggest skeptics when it came to battery-electric vehicles. He questioned their environmental benefits, suggesting hybrids and hydrogen vehicles were more beneficial. He went so far as to warn that a complete switch to EVs could destroy the Japanese auto industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"2023
The company is going to focus on more completely dedicated EV platforms rather than shoehorning EVs into conventional ones.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But critics argued that Toyoda had the argument upside-down and that Toyota, in particular, was at risk if it didn\u2019t try to take a lead in the emerging EV market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether or not Toyoda\u2019s concerns might prove valid, the automaker has grown increasingly out of step with the rest of the industry. In China, the world\u2019s largest automotive market, sales of EVs are rapidly growing and, in the process, that\u2019s helped domestic manufacturers challenge foreign brands like Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen. Then there\u2019s Tesla whose CEO Elon Musk wants to position the EV maker as one of the world\u2019s biggest manufacturers by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making a bigger commitment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Catching up will be on the shoulders of Sato, the former Lexus chief, who took on his new role April 1. During his Wednesday presentation he outlined a three-part strategy intended to position Toyota as a leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That includes the opening of what he described as the \u201cBEV Factory,\u201d specifically focused on electric vehicle development. But Toyota doesn\u2019t simply want to add more models to its line-up. It wants to accomplish with EVs what it once did with the launch of the game-changing Toyota Manufacturing System. That revolutionized the way vehicles are built, yielding both higher quality and sharply reduced production costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"2023
While more EVs are coming, Sato isn’t completely abandoning the company’s focus on hybrids, like the new Prius.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tesla has made it a priority to rethink the way EVs are built \u2014 something that has shown up in the upstart brand\u2019s strong earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will have a wholesale change of the manufacturing process,\u201d Nakajima emphasized, adding, \u201cThe key point will be how to reduce cost. The manufacturing process itself will be totally changed. Through very drastic improvements, we would like to reduce costs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Toyota hopes to halve the investment needed to bring its new products to market. But it also wants to find ways to double range without having to double the size of its EV\u2019s battery packs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toyota is finishing up the first stage of Sato\u2019s plan with the launch of the bZ4X and RZ battery-electric vehiclkes. It\u2019s now entering a second phase focused on learning how to build better EVs more efficiently. The launch of the next-generation EV in 2026 will mark the start of the third phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2030, Toyota now expects to be selling 3.5 million EVs worldwide. But based on current sales targets, that would make up barely a third of its global total. Even as the automaker works to make its battery-electric cars more appealing and efficient, Sato isn\u2019t completely abandoning his predecessor\u2019s electrification strategy. He has indicated that hybrids, PHEVs and fuel-cell vehicles will remain a critical part of Toyota\u2019s product mix well into the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toyota’s new CEO is leading the company in a new direction when it comes to EVs, and that likely to show with the company’s next EV in October. Get details at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7,8,5,1164,2648,1347,9],"tags":[1325,10446,3114,543,10843],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242839"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242846,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242839\/revisions\/242846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242839"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=242839"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=242839"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=242839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}