The growth of Tesla and BYD has made Toyota think twice about going all-in on electrification.
When we think of a brand that is not supporting the electrification of vehicles, Toyota springs to mind, and the Japanese manufacturer has always been quite reluctant to 100% electrification of cars despite being an absolute leader in electrification thanks to its hybrid cars.
Toyota’s CEO has been heard on several occasions trying to slow down the total electrification of the automotive sector, as the company’s goal was to make the leap directly to hydrogen cars.
However, hydrogen technology is still at a very early stage, especially in terms of charging infrastructure, which meant that Toyota had to relent in betting (timidly) on electric cars.
Its first electric car, the Toyota bZ4X, has been beset by problems from the outset, but according to the brand it is the start of a total of 30 electric vehicles to be launched on the global market by 2030. An optimistic but also very ambitious figure and it remains to be seen whether it will be achieved.
Tesla and BYD, the brands to be followed by Toyota
The progress of Chinese manufacturer BYD and especially the success of Tesla in 2022 have been the main reasons for Toyota to redouble its efforts in a much more aggressive electrification strategy.
Tesla, thanks to its manufacturing process, obtained a margin per car sold of almost 28% in its last quarter, which means it obtains eight times more profit per car than Toyota.
This data has given Toyota pause for thought and according to sources inside the company, the big Japanese manufacturer could scrap its e-TNGA platform, which is a platform adapted from combustion cars for electric cars, and develop a new platform specifically for electric cars from scratch.
We have seen in other manufacturers that the use of mixed platforms is not the most efficient and this ultimately results in electric cars that do not take advantage of all the qualities and features of this technology, while a specific platform for electric cars allows them to get that extra.
It is true that the development of a new platform requires time and investment and this could postpone some of the planned launches, but we certainly believe that it is better to take a break along the way and have a better “product” than to try to weather the situation.
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