Editor-in-Chief | Zhong Kun
Author | Fu Yu
Edit | Chen Shuhao
Reports from car hoist circles
Once Hollywood, represented by the six major film and television companies of Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Warner, formed the famous "Hollywood Big Six". With Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the Big Six became the Big Five. But the "Big Five" situation did not last long, and at the end of 2018, Netflix joined the American Film Institute (MPAA) and became a new member, which successfully turned the situation into a six-legged stand. Different from before, this "big six", because of the addition of this fresh blood of Netflix, began to become very different.
Unlike hollywood's previous stable themes such as superheroes, Netflix's adventurous spirit allows it to continuously develop new themes in the existing film and television pattern, which also allows it to make many masterpieces, such as the recent "Squid Game", which has become a hot upstart in Hollywood.
Netflix is like a "catfish" stirring up the Hollywood film and television circle, and in the automotive market, in the context of the current electrification trend is gradually becoming a new trend, unlike most companies that simply use electrification or electrification to achieve carbon neutrality, Toyota, as the world-class hegemon of the automotive industry, has a different view.
Clear tactics
Toyota fully embraces electrification
On December 14, Akio Toyoda, the current head of Toyota Motor, made a speech on the comprehensive exposition of Toyota's future carbon neutrality strategic plan. In Toyota's view, if you want to achieve carbon neutrality in the environment, there are no more than two means, one is to reduce carbon from the source, and the other is to neutralize emissions. These two new concepts have a more official name at the launch, namely "carbon reduction car" and "carbon neutral car".
The main difference between the two is whether the energy that drives the car can achieve complete green environmental protection. The former is to gradually achieve the vision of carbon neutrality by technological means to make the drive energy energy further reduce carbon dioxide emissions when it is not completely green. The latter, on the other hand, is to snuff out carbon dioxide emissions from the source, so that the energy driven by the car is green from the beginning, and even the internal combustion engine cannot emit carbon dioxide.
This is actually the same as the previous concept of Toyota Akio "shelling" pure electric. Instead of resolutely rejecting electrification, in Akio Toyoda's view, electrification should take into account the true purpose of "carbon neutrality" in addition to considering a large number of employees in the automotive industry. At present, the global scale (especially an island country such as Japan) is still mainly dependent on thermal power generation, and the drive method of electricity-to-oil exchange is actually a different form of carbon dioxide emissions, and the real purpose of carbon reduction has not been achieved. The reason why Toyota has not been transformed for a long time, "stuck" to the bottom line of fuel vehicles for a period of time, in addition to the technical advantages and profit advantages accumulated over the original technical route for many years, it has not found a more practical and effective means to achieve "carbon neutrality" or one of the reasons for its delayed transformation.
This is the difference between Toyota and other brands in the electrification planning, after watching a number of companies electrification strategy conference, the author found that in fact, many brands have not really systematically discussed the concept of "carbon neutrality" How do we want to achieve it, just by a few so-and-so years to achieve what kind of sales targets to start this "scuffle". And Toyota through the elaboration of two concepts, more detailed explanation of the "carbon neutrality" of this battle, how does Toyota want to fight?
In fact, unlike car companies that have long embraced electrification in all directions, Toyota's electrification strategy has not been as aggressive as other world-class car companies, but through a press conference yesterday, Toyota seems to have bid farewell to the original "conservative" image and opened a new prelude. Guided by the concepts of "carbon reduction vehicle" and "carbon neutral vehicle", Toyota Motor has taken many initiatives, including the TOYOTA bZ pure electric exclusive series and the all-round BEV product lineup.
Wild flag
After years of dormancy, Toyota "went crazy"
The first model of the bZ series was the bZ4X cooperated by Toyota and Subaru, and at this conference, Toyota followed the launch of the bZ Small Crossover, bZ SDN, bZ4X, bZ Compact SUV and bZ Large SUV, further expanding the model library of the bZ series. In view of the long-term development of the bZ series models, Toyota has created an exclusive platform for BEV. According to Toyota's planning, under the empowerment of the platform, it is expected that by 2030, Toyota Motor will introduce 30 BEV models, providing a comprehensive product lineup in various fields including passenger cars and commercial vehicles worldwide, and Toyota's annual sales of BEV models will reach 3.5 million units worldwide. It is worth mentioning that in May, this data is still stuck at 2 million, less than half a year, Toyota in the electrification, whether it is corporate cognition, or brand strength, have a qualitative leap, close to the "sealing of the devil".
In the planning of another brand under Toyota, Lexus, Toyota's pure electric pace has gone more thoroughly. Also in 2030, all Lexus models will provide a full range of PRODUCT LINEUP OF BEV versions, achieving 100% of BEV model sales in major sales markets such as China, North America, and Europe, and achieving a sales target of 1 million units in the global market. By 2035, Lexus will achieve 100% of BEV model sales worldwide, and fully electrify the power of the model. At that time, the Lexus brand will also become an electrification brand.
To achieve these goals, Toyota will need to pay a greater price for electrification. According to Toyota's plan, it will invest 4 trillion yen ($35 billion) to develop electric vehicles by 2030. In fact, although Toyota has always had its own unique views on the opposite side of electrification, the pace is extremely cautious. The fact is that although there was no previous publicity to set up various flags, Toyota has made long-term investments in various fields of electrification, and today's achievements, including a variety of models in the bZ series, as well as the BEV exclusive platform, are the results of a long period of "lurking".
As early as 1992, Toyota established the Electric Vehicle Development Division and brought the RAV4 EV to market in 1996. For nearly three decades, Toyota has been experimenting with different types of electrified models, including the first mass-produced hybrid Prius, the prototype "e-com" for small commuter electric vehicles, the "COMS" for ultra-small electric vehicles, and so on. However, after many small tests, the car company that has established a certain dominance in the era of fuel vehicles has not chosen to be the vanguard of the electric wave, and it was not until the end of 2021 that it began to fully embrace electrification.
Write at the end:
The leading position in the fuel vehicle market and the complex supply chain links behind its huge volume determine that Toyota's electrification transformation road must be a cautious "big gamble". Although the current trend of electrification has been determined, if toyota wants to win in this "big gamble", Toyota can only choose to be a "catfish". Whether it is the development of new products based on two concepts, or the practice of coming up with a variety of new cars in one go, Akio Toyoda, who stands at MEGA WEB, has once again opened a new chapter in Toyota. It must not only stand out among traditional car companies such as Volkswagen and Nissan, but also seize a favorable position among new energy giants such as Tesla.
▼ ▼ ▼
Copyright Notice: Some of the pictures in this article originate from the Internet
If copyright issues are involved, please contact the author with proof of ownership and contact this official account
If you need to reprint, please apply to the background of this official account and obtain authorization
Legal Counsel: Mr. Jiang Lei of Shanghai Hansheng Law Firm