How Toyota, Honda and Nissan ceded the electric vehicle market to Tesla, BYD, GM and Volkswagen
- The Toyota Prius hybrid and all-electric Nissan Leaf had early-mover advantage, so why is no Japanese company among the top 20 makers of electric vehicles now?
Spectators at the United States’ Nascar Cup Series race in November last year had front-row seats for a debate over the auto industry’s future.
A plane sponsored by non-profit group Public Citizen flew past Phoenix Raceway in Arizona carrying a banner that read: “Want exciting? Drive electric. Want boring? Drive Toyota.”
The fly-by followed an open letter to Akio Toyoda, CEO of one of the world’s largest carmakers, from groups including Public Citizen criticising its slow roll-out of electric vehicles.
“No carmaker has been able to keep up with the surging consumer demand for battery electric vehicles, but Toyota has not even attempted to meet it,” they wrote. “Toyota can and must shift swiftly to EVs or risk obsolescence.”
While the NGOs’ motivations were green ones, their message reflected a wider concern in the US$2.25 trillion global car industry that Toyota and other Japanese carmakers risk losing their leading position by failing to shift to electric vehicles (EVs) fast enough.
Tesla is the world’s top EV maker by vehicles sold, followed by companies including China’s BYD and Germany’s Volkswagen, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. No Japanese carmaker makes the top 20, leaving them on the sidelines of the auto industry’s fastest-growing sector.
