Toyota closing market cap gap with Tesla as it plans to use Huawei's self-driving EV hardware
Toyota's late Chairman Akio Toyoda has made some right decisions before he stepped down to make way for its electrification pivot, it seems.
His bet on power train diversification instead of going all in on electric cars like most other automakers is paying off in spades now that EV sale have slowed down.
Toyota's new CEO even low-key gloated about it not long ago, saying that the company envisions a global EV penetration rate of not more than 30% in the near future.
He had a point, as last month the automotive giant became Japan's first company to surpass the 60 trillion yen market cap threshold as investors saw a 31% increase in its hybrid sales that now command 60% of that market.
That is a nearly $400 billion market cap that not long ago was just a quarter of Tesla's at its peak. Toyota's output is so high that it has now implemented limits for daily production in order to keep quality control in check.
The other thing it is traditionally keeping in check are manufacturing costs. Its current hybrid powertrain now costs just a sixth of what the original one in the Prius commanded, all the while the new Prius can cover more than 50 miles on electric power alone.
Said 2024 Toyota Prius hybrid has now been awarded the title of the most energy-efficient vehicle when all production and operation lifespan emissions are taken into account, too, ahead of Tesla's electric vehicles.
Toyota is now preparing to apply its famed production cost frugality to its EV output as well, which it intends to ramp up significantly with new models in the next few years, including bringing to market ones with a homebrew solid-sate battery.
It already has a gigacasting assembly platform similar to Tesla's that it says is 20% more efficient, and is entering partnerships for autonomous driver-assist technologies to rival the FSD solution.
Toyota will reportedly use Huawei's advanced self-driving EV kit in its future cars, but powered by Momenta's software and high-res vision maps to go around any potential regulatory hurdles that may arise from the use of Huawei's ADS hardware solution globally. Toyota is expected to detail its driver-assist EV technology plans further at the Auto China 2024 expo that starts on April 25.
