Over the past few years, Toyota has gotten us quite used to flattering figures, but that’s not what has just happened. The Japanese giant is indeed facing a global drop in its production. Let’s take stock.
Difficulties in China and Japan
As stated Electrekthe Japanese firm built 4.71 million vehicles during the first half of 2024, a drop of 7% compared to the record of the previous year: 5.06 million cars produced. It is also the first time in four years that Toyota has seen its global production decline.
So what’s going on? The company is particularly experiencing difficulties in the Chinese market where its production is down 17%. Above all, it faces a new electric giant: BYD, which is a hit with its Seagull sold for only $10,000 on site.
On its own land, Toyota is also in danger. Indeed, BYD launched the Seal, often compared to Tesla’s Model 3. The Middle Kingdom firm is increasing its initiatives and starting to overshadow its Japanese rival, which has fallen behind in terms of electric vehicles.
Toyota wants to relaunch on electric
Of course, the automobile giant is far from having said its last word. He announced last September a $7 billion plan to electrify Japanese industry. This project also includes Nissan and other large local companies.
Toyota therefore promises new generation batteries which would be much more efficient and less expensive. The ambition is, by 2027, to offer a range of around 600 km. If this bet is held, the manufacturer would have a serious advantage in its game, because customers often cite this factor in the reasons which push them to delay the purchase of an electric car.
Putting words into action, the company is immediately investing $1.7 billion to boost its specialized subsidiaries and launch a new factory for its luxury brand, Lexus, which should see the light of day by 2029.
In the short term, however, we have learned that Toyota plans to reduce its global production of electric cars to one million cars in 2026. Which would represent a drop of around 30% compared to its previous plan (around 1.5 million). To find out more about this, do not hesitate to reread our dedicated article here.
