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Toyota Motor Corp is expected to outline adjustments to its electric vehicle (EV) strategy to key suppliers early next year, as it races to narrow the gap on price and performance with industry leaders Tesla and BYD, two people with knowledge of the work said.
The leading Japanese automaker is expected to detail the EV plan changes through early 2026, communicating the adjustments to major suppliers, the people said on condition of anonymity as the information is confidential.
Toyota has been looking at ways to improve the competitiveness of EVs being planned for this decade, in part by speeding up the adoption of performance-boosting technologies for planned EVs, from electric drive systems – including motors – to the electronics that convert power from the grid to energy stored in batteries and more integrated heating and cooling systems, the people said.
The changes, however, might include delays to some of the EV development programmes originally planned for the three-year period, one of the people said.
The changes would be for the successors to Toyota’s first two EVs for major markets, the bZ4X and the Lexus RZ, and intended to close the gap with Tesla Inc on cost and performance, the people said.
Toyota is set to convene a major powwow of suppliers in February, the first such global supplier convention since the pandemic.
Toyota said in a statement that it is “always actively discussing and working with key (suppliers and partners) on a variety of topics,” to achieve carbon neutrality. But it said it had no new details to disclose on EV development projects.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla made almost eight times the profit per vehicle as Toyota for the third quarter, partly because of its ability to simplify EV production and reduce cost, analysts have said.
