The Tokyo Motor Show was a major event that attracted 2 million people from the 1980s to the 1990s, but in recent years the number of visitors has decreased and the last exhibition in 2017 drew only 770,000 attendees.
The announced reorganization of several commercial vehicles companies came suddenly and was one that few in the industry expected.
On May 30, Toyota Motor Corporation and Daimler Trucks of Germany announced a business merger between Toyota-owned Hino Motors and Daimler-owned Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
The four companies have reached a basic agreement that calls for Toyota and Daimler to establish a holding company by the end of 2024 with the aim of going public. Hino Motors and Mitsubishi Fuso will become part of the holding company. Toyota and Daimler will hold the same percentage of shares in the holding company, and Hino Motors will cease to be a consolidated subsidiary of Toyota after the merger.
Four Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki, said they have agreed to share the same battery specifications for electric motorcycles. By sharing the same removable replacement battery, they will increase convenience. The battery charger to be developed in the future will also be standardized.
For small scooters, it is difficult to increase the size of the battery to extend the cruising range due to the small size of the vehicle, and thus the frequency of recharging is high. The detachable battery type will be more convenient, as it can be exchanged for a fully charged battery at the battery exchange station.
Source: The Nikkei
PSR Analysis: In April 2019, the four companies set up a consortium to discuss battery commonality; agreeing to commonality is an achievement. This was the minimum necessary point to reach in order to prevent confusion caused by conflicting specifications, such as whether to use VHS or Beta. In addition, there had never been a case in the past where four companies had worked together to accomplish something, and in this sense, it was probably significant.
Standards have been agreed upon for battery structure, characteristics, protection circuits, communication protocols for charging, and stations that will serve as exchange infrastructure. However, the size, weight, capacity, and shape of the batteries are outside the scope of the cooperative area and will be handled by each company, in other words, a competitive area.
The agreement is related to replaceable batteries (and replacement stations) for first-class mopeds (under 50cc) and second-class motorcycles (under 125cc). As for the electrification of medium and large motorcycles, all four companies will continue to develop technologies and products as before.
In my opinion, it has taken two years to build this consensus, which is far too long. Taiwan’s Gogoro, KIMCO’s Ionex, and others have already released many EV bikes, and recharging stations have become widespread, especially in urban areas, and the bikes are already functioning as a part of our daily lives. As international competition intensifies, there will be more and more cases where the traditional Japanese sense of speed will not be able to cope. PSR
Akihiro Komuro is Research Analyst, Far East and Southeast Asia, for Power Systems Research
Daimler Truck and Deutz have entered a strategic partnership to manufacture engines. Under the plan, Daimler Truck acquires 4.19% of the shares in Deutz AG, in return for which Deutz pays for access to Daimler Truck internal combustion engines.
The move is a consequence of Daimler’s decision to stop investing in the development of their medium duty engines (MDEG Series) from 5.1 to 7.7 Litres. At the same time, Deutz will be able to access Daimler technology and further develop it for off-road applications, such as construction and agriculture machinery. The heavy-duty engines will continue to be manufactured by Daimler Truck at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Mannheim and be delivered to Deutz to complete the engine system. Production of the medium-duty engines is expected to take place at Deutz in 2028.
On Jan. 20, 2024, Lingong Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. and CATAL New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly develop electric construction machinery.
Lingong Heavy Machinery is a leader in the global wide body mining truck and high-altitude operation platform industry and is also an active advocate and strong promoter of green, intelligent, international, and low-carbon environmental protection development in the engineering machinery industry.
CATAL is a leading global new energy innovation technology company, committed to providing first-class solutions and services for global new energy applications, and has a wide range of vehicle factory partners around the world.
Hino Motors has announced that the falsification of diesel engine emission values, which was previously announced in March, had been taking place since at least 2003 or earlier. The company had previously stated that the fraud began in the fall of 2016. In 2016, the company also revealed that it had falsely reported to the MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism) in response to its request for a fact-finding survey on exhaust gas and fuel efficiency tests.
Source: The Nikkei
PSR Analysis: Although I do not wish to make such negativity a theme, I cannot overlook this issue. The impact on the industry of the fraud at Hino, which has the top share of the medium- and heavy-duty truck sector in Japan, is significant. Isuzu has suspended shipments of four bus models that use Hino engines. Not limited to the automotive field, Tadano cranes, Kobelco hydraulic excavators, Hitachi Construction Machinery wheel loaders, and Kato rough terrain cranes have also been forced to suspend shipments after the problem came to light.
The government of Japan has set a target of 10 million tons of hydrogen to be used in Japan by 2030, enough to operate more than 30 nuclear power plants. This would be more than 10% of the total electricity capacity in Japan.
It will also hasten the practical application of hydrogen power generation and accelerate the spread of FCVs. The government will provide support through a newly established 2 trillion Yen fund and tax incentives for capital investment.
FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT
TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, has announced that it will build a new plant in Japan, with plans to begin construction in 2022 and mass production in 2024. The Sony Group and Denso Corporation are expected to participate in the construction of the new plant.
The new plant will produce logic semiconductors with a circuit line width of 22 to 28 nanometers. They are generally used in signal processing that requires large amounts of data, and in high-performance microcomputers used in car control. TSMC envisions the site adjacent to the Sony Group’s image sensor plant in Kumamoto Prefecture as the planned construction site.
Competition in the development of EVs is fierce, and the momentum for their introduction is growing in Southeast Asia. While Chinese and Korean manufacturers are aggressively entering the market, Japanese manufacturers, which hold an 80% share of the new car market, have not made any significant moves.
Although the COVID-19 disaster has brought the market to a standstill, Southeast Asia, with a population of 660 million and a rising middle class, will continue to be a promising growth market.
A proactive EV strategy is required to protect the current market dominance. In Indonesia and Thailand, the two largest markets in the region, Japanese cars have a 90% share of the market. However, it is only the Chinese and South Koreans who are providing the buzz about EVs.
In Indonesia, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. will begin producing EVs in March at its completed vehicle plant that recently went into operation. For the time being, it will rely on imports for key components, but it is building a plant for mass production of onboard batteries in collaboration with LG Group, another Korean electronics giant.
In Thailand, China’s SAIC Motor Group and Great Wall Motor have already started selling EVs. The latter plans to start mass production of EVs in 2023 at a plant it acquired from GM in the US. Compared to China and South Korea, which are trying to secure a scale of production with an eye to exports, Japan is generally cautious, with Toyota and Mitsubishi considering local production of EVs in Thailand starting in 2023.
Japan continues its efforts to make hydrogen a carrier of energy at all levels of society even though the results are not productive. Japan’s focus on hydrogen for transportation, imported hydrogen and derivatives for electrical generation, and hydrogen for home heating and cooking is proving economically destructive.
Japan, and especially, Toyota, has been pushing hydrogen for years. Toyota began exploring hydrogen for vehicles in 1992, at the same time it was exploring electric vehicles. It delivered the first EV cars in 1993.
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