China’s EV Revolution Shows Grim Future for Japan’s Car Titans

[SBFNews]

China’s EV Revolution Shows Grim Future for Japan’s Car Titans​

• Toyota, Honda, Nissan sales all declined in China last year
• Lack of electric models is a turn-off for Chinese buyers

Nissan SylphyPhotographer: Li Yu/VCG/Getty Images
By
Linda Lew and
Nicholas Takahashi
21 March 2023 at 05:00 GMT+8

Toyota, Honda, Nissan sales all declined in China last year
Lack of electric models is a turn-off for Chinese buyers

In the world of gasoline cars, Japan’s automakers are king. Toyota Motor Corp. has held the title of the world’s No. 1 car company for the past three years, while Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. remain global best sellers.

But as the transition to electric vehicles accelerates, the Japanese giants are facing stiffer competition from EV upstarts like Tesla Inc. and BYD Co. Nowhere is the threat more apparent than in China — the world’s largest auto market and where one in four cars sold last year was electric. EV sales are forecast to climb to 9 million in 2023, reaching market penetration of 35%.

Honda and Nissan sales in China have been falling for at least two years, while Toyota’s sales last year declined for the first time in a decade. Although chip shortages, Covid lockdowns and the related supply chain snarls played their part, a growing issue is the lack of attractive electric-car offerings from the trio.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-20/china-s-ev-revolution-shows-grim-future-for-japan-s-car-titans?leadSource=uverify wall

 

[maxsanic]

China’s EV Revolution Shows Grim Future for Japan’s Car Titans​

• Toyota, Honda, Nissan sales all declined in China last year
• Lack of electric models is a turn-off for Chinese buyers

Nissan SylphyPhotographer: Li Yu/VCG/Getty Images
By
Linda Lew and
Nicholas Takahashi
21 March 2023 at 05:00 GMT+8

Toyota, Honda, Nissan sales all declined in China last year
Lack of electric models is a turn-off for Chinese buyers

In the world of gasoline cars, Japan’s automakers are king. Toyota Motor Corp. has held the title of the world’s No. 1 car company for the past three years, while Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. remain global best sellers.

But as the transition to electric vehicles accelerates, the Japanese giants are facing stiffer competition from EV upstarts like Tesla Inc. and BYD Co. Nowhere is the threat more apparent than in China — the world’s largest auto market and where one in four cars sold last year was electric. EV sales are forecast to climb to 9 million in 2023, reaching market penetration of 35%.

Honda and Nissan sales in China have been falling for at least two years, while Toyota’s sales last year declined for the first time in a decade. Although chip shortages, Covid lockdowns and the related supply chain snarls played their part, a growing issue is the lack of attractive electric-car offerings from the trio.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-20/china-s-ev-revolution-shows-grim-future-for-japan-s-car-titans?leadSource=uverify wall

The Japanese car companies have only themselves to blame. EU started to enact various rules and regulations to eventually phase out gasoline cars 5 years ago whereas China has always made known to everyone that EVs are the future of the Chinese market. Other markets are slower but the trend towards electrification is also there.

In the face of these developments, Japanese car companies simply rested on their laurels and did nothing. Instead of embracing change, most of them insisted on micro improvements in existing old hybrid technology while a few of them fantasized that hydrogen cars have competitive advantage over EVs.

As recently as a few months ago, Toyota’s CEO was still spouting nonsense over how gasoline and hybrids are the future of cars. He has since been replaced with someone who is experienced in EV, but it’s too little too late.

When the big boys like Toyota, Honda and Nissan do not take the lead, all their upstream supply chain and component suppliers had no choice but to continue their paths in the gasoline technology tree. Once EVs go past the tipping point the big boys would probably be severely hit but might still survive on niche markets.

The same cannot be said for all the domestic SMEs and mom and pop stores that feed on the gasoline automobile industry, most of these companies will simply get wiped out and it would be very difficult to rebuild an entire supply chain for EVs from scratch when other countries already have a first mover’s advantage.