Featured Toyota's new president vows new EVs will stand out as 'Toyota-like'

When the Prius came out, it was mind blowing great. Sure there were some poor engineering choices hindsight and competition revealed. Worse, resources wasted on really goofy 'sheet metal art' instead of drivetrain improvements. Hopefully, Toyota has decided to compete and we'll see how well they do.

Bob Wilson

 

Yes indeed , forget the Mirai adventure going nowhere

 

If I may add ,scrub the Mirai adventure and convert it to a Prius full EV

 

Oh boy .... this acknowledgment from Toyota may devastate John. Many insisted Toyota was missing the quick shift to EV's - as fast as other manufacturers were doing. Even so - john insisted year after year that Toyota's 'plan' all along - was to go slow & steady & not shift to EV's as the other manufactures were doing. "know your audience" meant Toyota bucking the trend - as tho Toyota knows better than other manufacturers ... their way was purposeful. Now here we are .... Toyo admitting that they were caught with their pants down ... they didn't see what was coming, & they appreciate how many writers chided them primarily to
switch to more EV's quicker - without being forced into it as China did .... by demanding toyo cell EVS or get out.
Like GM - better late than never.
Finally - Toyota truly does "know their audience" which is a lot of governmental mandates. Fossil fuels are great and I too - wish they would still be considered with more plugins .... but ....it is what it is .
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I'm going to convince myself that the reporter of this article got the quote wrong, but if they didn't it's deeply troubling that the new head of Toyota would say something as strange as this:

"...he said pure electric vehicles allow for more software functions because of their connectivity and other features, stressing that Toyota’s electric vehicles would highlight “intelligence,” such as services and entertainment."

Seems to be way out in left field when it comes to the more obvious benefits of EV. And the article focuses on their markets in China where they are required to sell EVs and the claim that EVs are "available" in other regions, won't sit well with anyone who's trying to actually buy one in other regions...

 

yep, just more horse hockey from toyota

 

It takes a long time to turn a ship no matter how hard you try. Toyota got big (and fat?) so it has a lot of mass to move. The only question is whether they can move fast enough to not shrink too much.

Ford splitting off EVs from their traditional business practices may be the way to go. Rather than try to convert ICE people into EVs, let them do what they want and new-staff the EV business.

Bob Wilson

 

I'm going to be generous and allow that Sato want us each to feel like the raw character that Toyota has expressed in all of their cars will somehow be evident in the new electric models.

Drawing from my own Toyota ownership? I think this means they want to build the machines that can mindlessly stamp these things out perfectly and cheaply.

Crucially, they're willing to foot the bill for the likely many oopsies they'll have to scrap and hide before that level of automation is perfected for an EV.

I think the previous CEO had judged those costs to be too high for that time where Sato is committing to finding the financing.

 

Toyota has a pretty good record building cars these days.

I take for granted they know more about what they are doing and the state of the Automobile Market than the typical internet poster.

 

The new leadership's comments are quite encouraging.
BUT ......

If anything didn't sound true about what the new leadership says, it was this.

This bit seem like a lot of nonsense.
"Just in time" meant Toyota didn't have enough chips to bring about inventory that would prevent dealerships from being able to sell vehicles for $5,000 over MSRP.
And of course there was no supply chain for the massive amount of batteries necessary to make this switch. Yes, hindsight is 20/20 but compare how Tesla (yes - with all its many warts in many areas) spent a ton of cash burning - Blood Sweat & Tears building out charging infrastructure, battery production, as well as now they're making chips.
Before retiring last year - our manufacturing group called this system "just not in time" - because it is all too often the case. Vendors may try to find a cheaper source and then that cheap source goes Belly Up because they ground their price down. Now you're vendor can't deliver. Or you are saving money by Outsourcing all of your inspection processes. The vendors QA screws up & now you have a year's worth of scrap inventory? Now you're expensive legal team has to get involved? Screw that. Anything we could manufacture (AND inspect) in house - we would do .... so that this kind of nonsense would happen as little as possible .... whether it was mechanical elements - PC boards - you name it.
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Every ship sank when that tide went out. Toyota has no competitor willing to take the costs of warehousing much, and none have thought to change this even as we've moved into recovery.

Tideland makes a good point above: even as a J-I-T operator, Toyota positioned themselves better than many of their competitors. Still wasn't enough in the face of the problem.

 

I was watching a baseball game this weekend and saw a new 2023 Toyota Prius commercial. They only showed it driving around and only real thing it said was that it's now more zippy.

Really, Toyota marketing? ALL these updates to the Prius and all you're saying is it's more zippy? Huge fail....show the thing, inside and out, to people! Tell them the MPG for crying out loud...it's better than almost ALL the hybrids out there right now!!!

 

i'm surprised they're advertising at all with the lack of production ability

 

Suspect if that same quote was said in Chinese it'd make way more sense, but something was lost in translation...

 

Maybe Toyota know "knows their audience" won't buy substandard EVs. Unfortunately, by the time they roll out their clean sheet, other companies will have either iterated or been on second generation platforms.

 

Yep and some will be on their third iteration and Tesla will likely be on their 5th... It's like a giant collision before it happens... They can say all they want before it finally hits and it's not a big deal because no one can prove it one way or the other yet...

 

Toyota typically builds and refines leading edge vehicles in Japan. Meanwhile, EV subsidies in the US require the vehicles to be built here. Toyota is a long way from building quality evs and batteries in America. But now that they are focusing on evs they will get if right. Just not overnight and not with a boatload of flaws.

It makes sense why Sato stated "future EV models would be truly Toyota-like, pointing to a high standard for quality and not just affordable pricing." Building quality in low cost states like Texas and Kentucky is not that easy.

When it comes to just in time, Toyota has most of their suppliers build warehouses and assembly facilities next to their plants. Which is essentially outsourcing warehousing while allowing Toyota managers and logistics easy access. It worked fine until the buyers and workers stayed home for a year or more.

I can see why Toyota is prioritizing China who historically never wanted anything Japanese. Not Sonys, Toyotas or Hondas. Now Toyota has their foot in the door to a market and resources they need for unparalleled growth.

Asians are still taking covid seriously. China just last month eliminated most of their in-home lockdowns. They still don't have our vaccines or anti-virals so many have been getting sick now. But the current strain is much easier to deal with from a medical standpoint. Toyota will take advantage of their market and resources. They already have a dominent Western position.