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One of Toyota’s most prominent suppliers and Japan’s leading auto parts manufacturer, Denso, appointed a new CEO Monday as the industry’s shift to EVs heats up globally.

Toyota, Japan lag behind the EV market

Toyota is in the midst of an identity crisis. The world’s largest automaker has stood by as the industry transformed beneath it.

Electric vehicle sales rose 60% in 2022, despite supply chain hurdles, surpassing 10 million for the first time, according to information by the IEA. Major car markets are leading the way, with over one in four cars sold in China, over one in five in the EU, and almost one in every ten vehicles sold in the US being electric.

However, one primary car market, in particular, has severely lagged behind the overall market. Fully electric vehicles accounted for just 2.1% of new passenger car sales in Japan in 2022, compared to almost 20% in Europe and China.

Toyota has played a commanding role in the nation’s reluctant approach to going all in on fully electric, zero-emission EVs.

The automaker has actively challenged the industry’s shift to electric vehicles over the past decade, working to spread misinformation and lobbying against rules that promote EV adoption.

Toyota’s first all-electric vehicle, the bZ4X, had a disappointing launch, with a recall derailing the rollout.

As a result, Toyota ranked among the world’s most obstructive companies on climate policy in 2022, with less than 1% of total sales being zero-emission (not hybrid). In addition, Toyota was found to have one of the least developed supply chains for reducing carbon emissions.

The trend may soon change with Japan’s leading auto supplier and critical Toyota vendor, Denso, appointing a new CEO.

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Toyota bZ4X (Source: Toyota)

Toyota’s auto supplier appoints new CEO amid EV shift

Denso was initially formed as a Toyota spin-off, becoming a powerhouse in the global auto parts industry and expanding to supply many automakers.

The supplier revealed on Monday it had chosen senior executive and chief software officer Shinnosuke Hayashi to take over the reins as president and CEO. The move comes shortly after Toyota also appointed a new leader.

Incumbent president, Koji Arima, told reporters at a news conference:

The foundation for management is now in place, and for Denso to take a bigger leap forward, it is necessary to have someone with different knowledge from myself, who has leadership, can create new value, and inject new wind [into the company].

When asked about what challenges he will address first, Hayashi mentioned the auto industry’s trend toward fully electric, software-defined vehicles, claiming:

We will respond by transforming our portfolio, which includes production and supply structure as well as engineers’ skills.

Toyota’s newly elected leader Koji Sato, who took over this month for 66-year-old grandson to the company’s founder Akio Toyoda, revealed plans to “accelerate” the company’s transition to EVs with ten new models and 1.5 million in sales by 2026.

Electrek’s Take

Over the past few weeks, or months, Japanese companies have one by one announced plans to boost EV development efforts.

For example, Honda announced it’s overhauling its business strategy to focus on electric vehicles earlier this year. At the same time, Mitsubishi declared it would become a “mainly BEV” brand by the end of the decade.

Despite the recent claims, Toyota is still sticking to a nontraditional approach with plans to include hybrids and fuel cell vehicles in its lineup.

While many automakers are already achieving double-digit or 100% EV sales, Toyota is still aiming for less than 15% of its total to be electric by 2026. Perhaps with its leading supplier also changing leadership, the automaker and nation can get on board with the zero-emission EV movement.

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Rare earth stocks surge on U.S-China trade dispute over the critical minerals

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Rare earth stocks surge on U.S-China trade dispute over the critical minerals

A dump truck moves raw ore inside the pit at the Mountain Pass mine, operated by MP Materials, in Mountain Pass, California, U.S., on Friday, June 7, 2019.

Joe Buglewicz | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Shares of U.S. rare earth miners surged in early trading Monday, after President Donald Trump threatened China with retaliation over its strict export controls.

USA Rare Earth soared more than 18%, Critical Metals surged 18%, Energy Fuels jumped more than 11%, and MP Materials rallied about 8%.

Trump on Friday threatened China with a “massive” increase in tariffs in retaliation for Beijing imposing strict export controls on rare earth elements. The president then dialed down his rhetoric on Sunday, saying the situation with China will “be fine.”

The Defense Department, meanwhile, is accelerating its effort to stockpile $1 billion worth of critical minerals, according to The Financial Times.

And JPMorgan Chase said Monday it would invest up to $10 billion in companies that are crucial to U.S. national security.

“It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing — all of which are essential for our national security,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in press release.

Rare earths are a subset of critical minerals that are crucial inputs in U.S. weapons platforms, robotics, electric vehicles and other applications.

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Bloom Energy shares soar more than 30% after striking deal with Brookfield to provide fuel cells to AI data centers

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Bloom Energy shares soar more than 30% after striking deal with Brookfield to provide fuel cells to AI data centers

Bloom Energy power storage equipment in San Ramon, California.

Smith Collection | Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images

Shares of Bloom Energy surged Monday after striking a deal with Brookfield to deploy fuel cells for artificial intelligence data centers.

Brookfield will spend up to $5 billion to deploy Bloom Energy’s technology, the first investment in its strategy to support big AI data centers with power and computing infrastructure.

Shares of Bloom Energy were up more than 30% in early trading. Bloom’s fuel cells provide onsite power that can be deployed quickly because they do not rely on the electric grid.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC last week that the AI industry will need to build power off the electric to meet demand quickly and protect consumers from rising electricity prices.

“Data center self-generated power could move a lot faster than putting it on the grid and we have to do that,” Huang told CNBC on Oct. 8.

This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.

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JPMorgan Chase says it will invest $10 billion into industries critical for national security

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JPMorgan Chase says it will invest  billion into industries critical for national security

JPMorgan Chase says it will invest $10 billion into industries critical for national security

JPMorgan Chase on Monday said it is launching a decade-long plan to help finance and take direct stakes in companies it considers crucial to U.S. interests.

The bank said in a statement it would invest up to $10 billion into companies in four areas: defense and aerospace, “frontier” technologies including AI and quantum computing, energy technology including batteries, and supply chain and advanced manufacturing.

The money is part of a broader effort, dubbed the Security and Resiliency Initiative, in which JPMorgan said it will finance or facilitate $1.5 trillion in funding for companies it identifies as crucial. It said the total amount is 50% more than a previous plan.

“It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing — all of which are essential for our national security,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in the release.

As the biggest American bank by assets and a Wall Street juggernaut, JPMorgan was already raising funds and lending money to companies in those industries. But the move helps organize the company’s activities around national interests at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and China.

On Friday, markets tumbled as President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese imports after the major U.S. trading partner tightened export controls on rare earths.

In the release, Dimon said that the U.S. needs to “remove obstacles” including excessive regulations, “bureaucratic delay” and “partisan gridlock.”

JPMorgan said that within the four major areas, there were 27 specific industries it would look to support with advice, financing and investments. That includes areas as diverse as nanomaterials, autonomous robots, spacecraft and space launches, and nuclear and solar power.

“Our security is predicated on the strength and resiliency of America’s economy,” Dimon said. “This new initiative includes efforts like ensuring reliable access to life-saving medicines and critical minerals, defending our nation, building energy systems to meet AI-driven demand and advancing technologies like semiconductors and data centers.”

The bank said it would hire an unspecified numbers of bankers and create an external advisory council to support its initiative.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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