- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmy.ml
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/18256978
And they should be. Toyota spent so long fighting against EVs instead of embracing them that they could become irrelevant in less than 20 years.
China is heavily subsidizing their EV production. US and Japanese car makers are sitting on their hands and bitching to their government to keep the Chinese vehicles out.
Toyota who got famous for being agile and lean and making just in time manufacturing and continuously improving every aspect of the business.
They then basically run a real world experiment and start fucking around with electric (well hybrid) cars. The results of which are positive, they sell very well, get a lot of publicity and good reviews.
And what do they do. Ignore their entire philosophy, all their data, everything the company is built and and decide “the way we have always done it is best”.
Ohno Taiichi must be rolling in his grave.
Toyota fucked themselves.
But if capitalism shows us anything its that if the big companies don’t adapt and change quickly some small start up is going to blow them out of the water and make them cease to exist.
I still don’t understand their hesitation, they are still advocating for hydrogen instead of batteries. And even then, they haven’t built any infrastructure to support hydrogen cars like tesla did for battery cars.
Hydrogen is a Japanese government strategic initiative, they want to be world leaders in the technology so they’re encouraging Japanese companies to invest. And giving out hella subsidies too.
I’d still buy a Toyota/Lexus over a similarly priced BYD just because of the reliability track record of Toyota
Similarly priced? Nah mate
You gotta pay x2 for a Toyota with half of BYD features
Have fun Burning Your Driveway and getting no warranty. Dont worry, it runs out after 20,000 miles, just ask the company.
And Europe should too be sacred.