Toyota CEO admits it will need to act urgently to keep up in the Chinese EV market
After revealing a slew of new fully electric vehicles aimed at reconnecting with its customer base in China, Toyota’s recently appointed CEO, Koji Sato, says more needs to be done to keep up with the competition.
Anyone following the rise of electric vehicles over the past several years knows Toyota has arguably been the biggest laggard.
After the 66-year-old grandson to the company’s founder, Akio Toyoda, stepped down as CEO in January – one of the most prominent critics of going all in on EVs – many believed the company would change its mindset.
Toyoda has been replaced by former Lexus chief branding officer Koji Sato, who took over the reins of the world’s largest car seller this month.
Sato explained in February under his leadership, Toyota would increase fully electric vehicle efforts with a new business structure and strategy. He added:
Now that the time is right, we will accelerate BEV development with a new approach.
The new strategy includes introducing ten new battery-electric models by 2026, allowing for 1.5 million EV sales annually.
With this in mind, Toyota has struggled with its electric vehicle rollout thus far as it continues to lose market share in key regions. In China, the fastest-growing EV market, Toyota only sold 3,844 units through January, representing a dismal 0.25% of overall sales.
Toyota aims to keep up in China’s expanding EV market
Toyota slashed prices on its first EV introduced in China (and globally), the bZ4X, by up to 15% earlier this year to remain competitive.
The move came after market leaders like Tesla and BYD cut prices in the region, leading to several EV manufacturers following suit in order to keep up.
More recently, Toyota has seen some traction in China. The automaker unveiled its first electric sedan, the bZ3, co-developed with BYD, in October, which generated over 5,000 orders on its first sales day.
Toyota introduced plans to bolster its lineup with two new fully electric models earlier this week.
The first is an electric sport crossover, deemed the bZ Sport Crossover, designed to attract younger and Gen Z buyers in China. It’s second, the bZ FlexSpace concept is designed with families in mind with a focus on utility and ease of use.
During an interview with the media in Tokyo Friday, Sato admitted the automaker must act urgently if it wants to keep up in China’s rapidly evolving EV market, according to Reuters. He said:
We need to increase our speed and efforts to firmly meet the customer expectations in the Chinese market.
Sato added after seeing the impact at the Shanghai Auto Show, he sees China becoming “an advanced market for EVs.”
Although Sato acknowledged the company was producing a small number of EVs compared to other automakers in China, he said it would take a phased approach.
The first step includes improving battery electric vehicle tech and then ramping up production.
Electrek’s Take
Toyota’s urgency to remain competitive in China’s EV market comes after the automaker saw its first sales decline in the country last year in over a decade.
Although Japanese automakers, led by Toyota, account for nearly 20% of the overall Chinese auto market, they represent less than 0.35% of EVs.
China is moving quickly toward fully electric vehicles. Meanwhile, Toyota has been behind the ball. And it’s not only in China. Toyota only sold 24,466 EVs total globally last year, accounting for just 0.25% of its 9.5 million vehicle overall sales.
While Sato insists on taking a phased approach, EV startups and legacy automakers in the region like BYD, Tesla, NIO, XPeng, Geely, and others continue taking market share.
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Environment
Baidu- and Geely-backed JiYue brand unveils ROBO X EV that goes 0-100 km/h in under 1.9 sec
JiYue, a Chinese EV brand focused on delivering all-electric “robocars” to the masses, has unveiled its latest model, and it’s quite a deviation from its previous EVs—but in the best way. Earlier today, JiYue launched the ROBO X supercar, designed for high-speed racing. By high speed, we mean 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 1.9 seconds. My mouth is watering.
JiYue has only existed since 2021, when parent tech company Baidu announced it was expanding from software development into physical EV production, joining forces with multinational automotive manufacturer Geely.
The new “robotic EV” marque initially launched as JIDU with $300 million in startup capital before garnering an additional $400 million in Series A funding, led by Baidu, in January 2022.
In August 2023, Geely took on a larger role in JIDU alongside a greater financial stake as the brand reimagined itself as JiYue, inheriting the JIDU logo and its flagship model, the 01 ROBOCAR.
In December 2023, Baidu and Geely unveiled a second model called the JiYue 07. It was born from JIDU’s ROBO-02 concept, which debuted in 2023 and was designed to compete against the Tesla Model 3 in China.
The 07 finally launched in China earlier this year with 545 miles of range. With an all-electric SUV and sedan on the market, JiYue has unveiled an exciting new entry in the form of a performance supercar called the ROBO X. Check it out:
JiYue’s new ROBO X EV is available for pre-order now
JiYue showcased its new ROBO X hypercar in front of the crowd at the 2024 Guangzhou Auto Show earlier today. Similar to previous models but with a unique spin, JiYue described the ROBO X as an AI smart-driving supercar that, for the first time, blends artificial intelligence and autonomous driving into a high-performance, race-ready EV.
When we say “high performance,” we mean a quad motor liquid-cooled drive system that can propel the ROBO X from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in under 1.9 seconds. JiYue called the new ROBO X a “performance beast” with “the perfect balance of excellent aerodynamic performance and high downforce.” JiYue CEO Joe Xia was even bolder in his statements about the ROBO X:
For the next 20 years, the design of supercars will bear the shadow of Robo X. This is the best design in the history of Chinese automobiles today, and it is a landmark presence.
Fighter-style airflow ducts bolster the EV’s aerodynamics, efficiency, and overall posture. Per JiYue, the two-seater ROBO X is expected to deliver a maximum range of over 650 km (404 miles).
The new supercar features falcon-wing doors, a carbon fiber integrated frame, and a professional racing HALO safety system offering 360° of support. The interior features an AI smart cockpit with SIMO real-time feedback to give drivers an immersive racing experience.
Furthermore, JiYue said the vehicle will utilize parent company Baidu’s Apollo self-driving technology, which could make it the first electric supercar to apply pure-vision ADAS technology that enables track-level autonomous driving.
Following today’s unveiling of the ROBO X, JiYue has officially opened up pre-orders in China for RMB 49,999 ($6,915). That said, reservation holders will need to be patient as JiYue shared that it doesn’t expect to begin mass production of the ROBO X until 2027.
What do you think? Will people be talking about the ROBO X for the next 20 years?
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This week on Electrek’s Wheel-E podcast, we discuss the most popular news stories from the world of electric bikes and other nontraditional electric vehicles. This time, that includes the launch of the Lectric XPedition 2.0, Yamaha e-bikes pulling out of North America, LiveWire unveils an electric scooter concept, PNY readying its cargo e-scooters for pilot testing, Royal Enfield’s first electric motorcycle, and more.
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Crude oil futures were on pace Friday for loss for the week, as a supply gut and a strong dollar depresses the market.
U.S. crude oil is down more than 2% this week, while Brent has shed nearly 2%.
Here are Friday’s energy prices:
- West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.56 per barrel, down 14 cents, or 0.2%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil has shed about 4%.
- Brent January contract: $72.36 per barrel, down 20 cents, or 0.28%. Year to date, the global benchmark has lost nearly 6%.
- RBOB Gasoline December contract: $1.99 per gallon, up 0.46%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen more than 1%.
- Natural Gas December contract: $2.70 per thousand cubic feet, down 2.98%. Year to date, gas has gained more than 4%.
The International Energy Agency has forecast a surplus of more than 1 million barrels per day in 2025 on robust production in the U.S. OPEC revised down its demand forecast for the fourth consecutive month as demand in China remains soft.
A strong dollar also hangs over the market, as the greenback has surged in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory.
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