Japan: Toyota and the Hybrid Car Industry Can Toyota Continue to Maintain and Advance Its Position in the Hybrid Car Industry?

The market for hybrid cars is changing. There are more providers but due to bad publicity and poor performance, demand is falling.

One of the largest car manufacturers in the world is located in Japan which is Toyota. Toyota’s employees believe in the high technology and innovation to provide their products to their customers. However, they should invest more money and their attention more to manufacturing more of the eco-friendly cars ("Business Overview", 2011).

| * Focuses on environmentally friendly cars. * Technological innovations have given Toyota competitive advantage.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 1 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................... 3 2. STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE AUTO SECTOR ................................................................ 4 3. AN INTEGRATED MARKET ............................................................................................................ 12 4. LONG TERM OUTLOOK

Toyota is a leading company, and for over 70 years. It has been expanding business all over the world and

Hybrids are deservingly known for their fuel economy, a 2016 Prius c can get up to 50 MPG (FuelEconomy.gov, US Department of Energy). They are also known for being kind to the environment: Toyota advertises the Prius c, as seen below, as an “everyday eco fun sized for the city” on their website (Toyota, toyota.com/priusc). In Kia’s Super Bowl LI commercial for their new hybrid crossover, the Niro, they use the tagline: “it’s hard to be an eco warrior, but it’s easy to drive like one.” Hybrid owners agree with this; they can be seen driving around with proud smiles on their faces, knowing that they are saving the earth. But they have likely done little research, because

Although Toyota invented this new hybrid vehicle more than ten years ago, it did not offer the car to the USA consumers immediately. The main reason was that Toyota was aware of the new technology challenges. While Toyota was on the market research and new product development, other companies were focusing on merger and acquisition. Brand recognition, technology changes and improvement take several years to finish and Toyota wanted to launch a product which has cleared all the possible obstacles such as space, efficiency, speed, safety, weight which can meet all consumers ' expectations.

Toyota 's was the first company to introduce a full hybrid system of vehicles and is the most popular hybrid system in the world. On the other hand, American Auto Industry was late at adopting this hybrid technology. They were using high gas consuming technology which was environmentally unsustainable.

The American auto makers have already invested billions of dollars in new technology. Every year at the major automobiles shows new concept cars are unveiled as each auto maker seeks to drum up consumer interest along with domestic and international investment. The U.S. government with a stated goal of reducing the dependence on oil has called for companies to put one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 (D.O.E 2011). General Motors and Ford have already invested in hybrids and GM’s Chevy volt is already a top selling electric car. GM has invested a lot of money in hydrogen fuel cell technology and according to CEPGI (2014) General Motors has the all-time lead in fuel patents between 2002 and 2012. According to GM News (2013) “GM’s fuel cell test fleet has accumulated nearly 3 million miles, more than any other automaker”. General Motors has also entered into deal with Honda Motor to produce newer generations of fuel cells. GM is targeting 2020 as a launch date and is happy to allow Toyota to take the lead in launching hydrogen fuel cell cars. GM’s rationale is that Toyota will spend money to advertise and debut the

Recommendation: Toyota should continue developing the Prius, despite the technical difficulties present at the moment. The company’s kaizen maxim is the most reliable tool to guarantee that, once mass-production of the Prius starts, the new model will comply with Toyota’s efficiency and reliability standards. The value created by the Prius is not only that of uncovering a new possible market, but of making Toyota a carmaker that sets the standards of it (Exhibit D). Okuda should continue to pressure the G21 to produce a safe, reliable and innovative car. The Prius should be produced by 1997 to avoid other companies winning the race, as happened with the Direct Injection technology. Additionally, the Prius should be marketed first in Japan. Japan is not only Toyota’s largest market (allowing to have more cars to be evaluated by the production line staff); but also the gasoline prices are the highest among its different markets, a car 100% more fuel-efficient would be of great value for potential buyers. If the car probes to be a success, Toyota will have in its hands a product able to be commercialized to its other markets in America and Europe. The hybrid powertrain will not only make Toyota a

Comparison and Contrast of General Motors and Toyota Motor Thomas Hong, Ph.D. The Impact of Technology on Organization University of Phoenix November 12, 2007

Toyota is a car manufacturer established in 1937. It is a well-known worldwide company due to their persistence in making affordable cars. As one of the biggest car manufacturer in the world, there have been mass controversial environmental topics floating around. Some people perceive Toyota has significant contribution in promoting better environment. However, some people do not agree with it. In 1992, there was a significant change of their responsibility to the environments. Toyota Earth Charter was introduced regarding the policies for better environment. The vision for this charter is ‘respect for the planet’ and it aims to improve the global average fuel efficiency by 25% in 2015.

main strategy for the North American market is to aim for higher sales, while raising the proportion of locally produced automobiles. Toyota Motor Corp have reached a stage where investments made over the last several years to expand production capacity are beginning to show returns and improved profitability can be expected. Toyota’s goal is to bolster local production through additional investment, and contribute to the regional economy by expanding its operations. At present, our production capacity in North America is approximately 1.25 million units (including our joint venture with GM). However, Toyota Motor Corp plan to boost this to 1.45 million units during 2003.

Also, if Honda decides to make a big change to hybrid technology, they will see other companies dominate the petrol car industry and gain much more market share.

Toyota has always stressed the importance of environmental care and the reliability on their safe and quality cars. Since 1992 adopted a set of Guiding Principles, focused on “providing clean and safe products