Japan’s Auto Industry Plays The Long Game While Others Hit The EV Brakes
Despite a cooling market for EVs, Japanese automakers are proceeding exactly as planned, as they claim to have anticipated a slowdown
February 25, 2024 at 19:20
While some manufacturers begin to reassess their initial optimism on EVs, it would appear that Japanese caution has meant that the nation’s automakers aren’t too concerned and are proceeding as planned.
With the likes of Ford revising its expectations on the F-150 Lightning, GM scaling back on EV pick-up plans, Genesis losing faith in its all-EV strategy, and even Chinese automakers such as HiPhi putting a six-month stop on EV production, it seems the slowdown in EV adoption has taken many executives off-guard.
Not so in Japan. Toyota has long been vocal in its skepticism of governments’ and competitors’ plans to go all out in EVs, other brands, such as Honda, Subaru, Nissan, and Mazda, have been noted as somewhat reluctant to go all out in their EV transformation strategies.
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Related: China’s HiPhi Halts Production For 6 Months Amid Saturated EV Market
Even though EV advocates have often attributed this approach to a reluctance to embrace change as legacy car makers play catching up to the likes of Tesla, a report from Bloomberg suggests that Japan’s auto collective had an inkling that a slowdown would eventually transpire in the electric vehicle market.
“The customer decides the speed of electrification,” said Stephen Ma, Nissan Motor’s chief financial officer. “Electrification is not linear growth, a straight line. It will go up and down. But long term, it will grow.”
Ma’s sentiments confirm that the restrained embrace of EVs doesn’t mean that Nissan is losing focus on an electrified future. Even though the company is focusing on what the consumer wants, they will continue with their EV plans, which were set in motion with the announcement of a 2 trillion yen ($13.2 billion) five-year plan to accelerate electrification in 2021.
See Also: Genesis Reportedly Losing Faith Into Its All-EV Strategy, Could Launch More Hybrids
And they’re not alone. Speaking on the company’s plans, Honda Motor CFO Eiji Fujimura said that despite predicting a possible slowdown in the growth of the EV market, the automaker will continue to forge ahead with its EVs. Similarly, Subaru’s executive vice president, Tomoaki Emori, claims a growth plateau was considered when they created their 1.5 trillion yen ($9.9 billion) electrification plan.
Meanwhile, Toyota is sitting pretty, recording record sales of their hybrid-powered vehicles. In a much-needed delivery of good news amidst multiple emissions scandals, the world’s number one carmaker is preparing to deliver five million petrol-electric cars in 2025. Despite this success, Toyota CFO Yoichi Miyazaki says the company will continue to invest in EVs amidst its strategy of pursuing a full lineup that consists of battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen powertrains.
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