Japan's auto industry resists full electrification; Toyota advocates hydrogen fuel cells and synthetic fuels

News on May 30: Electric vehicles are becoming the first choice for more and more people when buying new cars due to their environmental protection and cost advantages. Globally, sales of new energy vehicles continue to grow, although the overall auto market situation is not very optimistic. However, Japan, as a major automobile country, seems to have no sign of catching up with the electrification wave, and its automobile industry has even formed a unified camp opposing full electrification.

## Akio Toyoda, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) and former Toyota president, once again expressed his resistance to full electrification at the recent G7 summit. Toyota's stance is supported by companies including Suzuki, Isuzu, Yamaha Honda and Mazda.

According to the editor's understanding, these Japanese companies believe that the development of pure electric vehicles faces a practical problem, that is, the scarcity of battery materials will limit the future development of electric vehicles. At the same time, they believe that the current electricity transformation is still shifting towards renewable resources and clean energy has not yet been fully realized, so other power solutions are needed to reduce or replace the use of fossil fuels.

As the former head of Toyota, Akio Toyoda has repeatedly emphasized that pure electric vehicles are not the only solution to automotive environmental issues. He believes that hydrogen fuel cells and synthetic fuels can also solve the emission problems of fuel vehicles. In addition, he believes that hybrid models have the potential to more effectively reduce vehicle emissions when battery capacity is limited.

However, although Toyota's rival Honda has affirmed the future development opportunities of electric vehicles and has invested in the construction of battery factories, it has not given up development in other areas. Honda announced in the middle of this month that it will develop a hydrogen fuel cell system for Isuzu's heavy-duty truck to be launched in 2027.

Although Japanese car companies are still cautious about full electrification, judging from the sales volume in the domestic car market, consumers do not seem to agree with their views. Starting from the second half of last year, Japanese brands that once enjoyed great success in the domestic market began to experience a decline in sales, and this trend will further intensify in 2023. On the contrary, new energy vehicle companies such as BYD and Tesla have gradually caught up with and surpassed Japanese brands in domestic sales.

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