Photo: Toyota
Toyota shocked the automotive world when it announced its CEO, Akio Toyoda, would step down in April. We’ve learned that the Japanese carmaker is also working on a new EV-only platform to replace the e-TNGA architecture used for the bZ4X.
Akio Toyoda announced he is stepping down from the CEO role in April, leaving current Lexus boss Koji Sato at the helm. It isn’t clear what prompted Toyoda to make such a decision, but he said something interesting in his announcement. “The new team can do what I can’t do. I now need to take a step back in order to let young people enter the new chapter of what the future of mobility should be like.”
It’s unclear from the announcement what Toyoda couldn’t do or why, but we can only speculate that it could have been a more decisive push toward electric vehicles. Toyota is the laggard in the auto industry regarding EVs, although it’s fair to admit that it shares this shortcoming with other Japanese carmakers. Based on this, we can say that there’s something inherently Japanese that makes car companies oblivious to the major trends in the auto industry today.
Koji Sato, the upcoming CEO, has not clarified his intentions yet, but he pledged to turn Toyota into a fully-fledged “mobility company.” Hopefully, this means that Toyota is finally considering going all-in with electric vehicles. Akio Toyoda also indicated he was willing to follow this path in December 2021 when it announced a bold new EV strategy. Nevertheless, Toyota continued “business as usual” while delaying new electric vehicles and botching their only electric car, the bZ4X.
Toyota was supposed to use the same e-TNGA platform that underpins the bZ4X for other future EVs, but it appears it changed course and wants an EV-only platform instead. The reason is that the e-TNGA was derived from an ICE architecture and thus uses parts that are unnecessary for electric vehicles. This increases manufacturing costs, making competing with other EV makers that have developed dedicated EV platforms more difficult.
According to the Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun, Toyota’s new EV platform will adopt a skateboard shape, which has proved ideal for mass-producing electric vehicles. There aren’t many details about the new architecture, but according to the Japanese media, Toyota doesn’t expect to have an EV built on top of it earlier than 2027.
Toyota still wishes to stick to initial plans to build 30 new EVs by 2030, with a projected production capacity of 3.5 million EVs by then. The company is looking to increase bZ4X production capacity by installing a new dedicated assembly line at its Takaoka factory. Currently, Toyota builds the bZ4X at its Motomachi factory in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture.
Hopefully, the new CEO will accelerate Toyota’s EV program because the times are growing impatient. Toyota may still be the number one carmaker in 2022, but as the world accelerates EV adoption, it might find out it doesn’t have much to offer to automotive markets. Toyota invented the lean manufacturing process adopted by the entire auto industry, but it risks losing on another manufacturing revolution that is now in full swing.
It’s unclear from the announcement what Toyoda couldn’t do or why, but we can only speculate that it could have been a more decisive push toward electric vehicles. Toyota is the laggard in the auto industry regarding EVs, although it’s fair to admit that it shares this shortcoming with other Japanese carmakers. Based on this, we can say that there’s something inherently Japanese that makes car companies oblivious to the major trends in the auto industry today.
Koji Sato, the upcoming CEO, has not clarified his intentions yet, but he pledged to turn Toyota into a fully-fledged “mobility company.” Hopefully, this means that Toyota is finally considering going all-in with electric vehicles. Akio Toyoda also indicated he was willing to follow this path in December 2021 when it announced a bold new EV strategy. Nevertheless, Toyota continued “business as usual” while delaying new electric vehicles and botching their only electric car, the bZ4X.
Toyota was supposed to use the same e-TNGA platform that underpins the bZ4X for other future EVs, but it appears it changed course and wants an EV-only platform instead. The reason is that the e-TNGA was derived from an ICE architecture and thus uses parts that are unnecessary for electric vehicles. This increases manufacturing costs, making competing with other EV makers that have developed dedicated EV platforms more difficult.
According to the Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun, Toyota’s new EV platform will adopt a skateboard shape, which has proved ideal for mass-producing electric vehicles. There aren’t many details about the new architecture, but according to the Japanese media, Toyota doesn’t expect to have an EV built on top of it earlier than 2027.
Toyota still wishes to stick to initial plans to build 30 new EVs by 2030, with a projected production capacity of 3.5 million EVs by then. The company is looking to increase bZ4X production capacity by installing a new dedicated assembly line at its Takaoka factory. Currently, Toyota builds the bZ4X at its Motomachi factory in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture.
Hopefully, the new CEO will accelerate Toyota’s EV program because the times are growing impatient. Toyota may still be the number one carmaker in 2022, but as the world accelerates EV adoption, it might find out it doesn’t have much to offer to automotive markets. Toyota invented the lean manufacturing process adopted by the entire auto industry, but it risks losing on another manufacturing revolution that is now in full swing.
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