Sunshine
Electric VehiclesToyota boss has a radical solution to catch up to Chinese automakers, which are eating its lunch worldwide. Will it work?
I actually think the Korean automakers' comments are very interesting. It was along the lines of:
"Yes, I'll admit, BYD is making excellent cars. But we're certain their pricing is unsustainable."
And that is the pattern of many Chinese industries. They go absolutely all-out on the "brutalize the market upon entry, with no shame, then tighten the screws once competitors are damaged" approach. They take it to an extreme.
Temu is an example everyone knows.
...So maybe Japan does need to do something drastic, in the very short term. Yes, Toyota dug their own grave here, and they need to fix that. But perhaps they need to do something unsustainable, too.
If they want market differentiation, make an electric car that's not spyware on wheels. Quality basic functionality while letting the user turn off all the telemetry and extra bells and whistles they don't want.
Tell that to Slate Auto. They’re launching a bare-bones pickup for under $25000. Pretty much everything right down to the car radio is an optional accessory. And they have stated that they will happily provide the templates for things like the radio & speaker mounts so individuals and third parties could 3D print their own mounting adapters if they want to customize their truck after they buy it.
This Toyota? The one fighting climate action, funding climate deniers, and lobbying against electrification?
- https://act.greenpeace.org.au/toyota-files
- https://www.citizen.org/article/driving-denial-how-toyotas-unholy-alliance-with-climate-deniers-threatens-climate-progress/
- https://electrek.co/2024/05/14/toyota-once-again-ranked-as-worst-automaker-on-climate-lobbying-globally/
Other than Nissan, every Japanese manufacturer actively fought EV adoption, and Toyota has been one of the worse. And now, they go...
You don't understand, hydrogen is the future man
Aww, did somebody leapfrog you technologically because you refused to change??
Detroit:
Last I heard they were claiming BEVs were an interim technology and everyone was going to move from them to hydrogen.
Which that premise always made me laugh. The distribution system for hydrogen would be insane to install. Electric is nearly ubiquitous and you can add in chargers much easier than hydrogen infrastructure. Not to mention you still have the energy conversion loss factor from making, storing and transporting hydrogen vs riding the existing electric infrastructure.
Yeah that whole thing has been idiotic from the start. I remember Popular Mechanics pushing articles about the new “hydrogen infrastructure” and “our hydrogen future” and all that shit.
That and hydrogen has been 5 years away from ready since the mid 90s.
As I've said for a long time, in glad everyone else is buying shit Chinese cars because it will drag the price of property cars down.
Yeah, everyone assumed the Chinese cars were going to be shit, then they actually turned up and western manufacturers made a whoopsie in their pants and have been in a blind panic ever since.
They really want you to keep believing it, though.
LOL. Found the BYD owner.
They're not shit though
Except in the US where their protectionist policies prevent Chinese cars from being sold and the other car manufacturers can artificially pump up their price to offset their R&D and losses globally.
Remember, it’s only racketeering if it’s not sanctioned by the government.
Didnt they pull back from the EV market and switch back to hybrid?
They should get their shit straight first.
Exactly, it's only this year that Toyota even made a competitive BEV! It's insane they've managed to remain the #1 global car manufacturer while being completely out of the BEV market?!
The 2010 Corolla EV is the best car we never had!
I suppose Japan will have to learn how to live with this new competition, just like Europe and USA had to in the 60's when Japan entered and disrupted the market.
