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.
Sales of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) vehicles in India are set to scale a new peak, driven by robust double-digit expansion in 2023 demand, with lower total ownership costs decidedly tilting the scales in favor of gas-powered cars instead of those running on liquid automotive fuels.
“We are seeing excellent traction for CNG vehicles,” says Tarun Garg, Director – Sales, Services and Marketing, Hyundai Motor India. “CNG provides a very good option to customers in terms of reduced total cost of ownership. Not only is the price of CNG fuel less than petrol/diesel, the fuel efficiency, too, is relatively better and emissions are lower.”
Currently, the country has more than 4,500 operational CNG stations, compared with fewer than 1,000 in 2014. To push adoption of CNG vehicles in the personal mobility space, in 2019, the petroleum and natural gas ministry announced plans to set up more than 10,000 CNG stations over the decade. It is anticipated that the country will save approximately Rs 2 lakh crore in oil imports if personal car users switched to CNG vehicles. Read The Article
The commercial industry will grow with trucks and buses expected to do well. Truck sales will improve as many industries require more units as they are running at full capacity
The Indian economy managed to revive itself during the first and second COVID waves and quickly achieved a V-shaped recovery.
This year, GST is reaching high levels. GST collection has witnessed a growth of 26% YoY – YTD CY22. Furthermore, the generation of e-way bills is increasing rapidly. The generation of e-way bills is directly proportional to truck utilization and drives vehicle demand.
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.
South Korean automotive battery giants are moving into the U.S. market, with SK Innovation teaming up with Ford and LG Chemical with GM to promote the construction of an automotive battery plant. SK plans to invest about 300 billion yen in the plant to produce 22 gigawatt-hours of automotive batteries, enough to power 220,000 EVs a year, and in a joint venture with Ford, the two companies will invest 600 billion yen to build a giant 60-gigawatt plant.
SK’s annual production capacity as of 2019 is only 5 gigabytes at its Korean plant. The capacity is expected to increase to 30 gigawatts in 2020 with the launch of plants in China and Hungary, to 85 gigawatts in 2023 with the addition of the US plant, and to exceed 185 gigawatts in 2025 with the addition of the joint venture with Ford. SK, a late entrant to the market, ranks sixth with a 5% share of the global market in 2020.
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solutions said they plan to build a joint automotive battery plant in the United States.
They will split the total investment of $4.3 billion (about 600 billion yen) on a 50-50 basis and plan to start operations by the end of 2025. As conditions for EV subsidies in the U.S. become clearer, several local investment plans are in the works.
The new plant will be built in Bryan County, Georgia. With a standard production capacity of 30 gigawatt-hours per year, it will be able to supply batteries for approximately 300,000 EVs. In addition to Hyundai Motor’s dedicated EV plant in Georgia, the plant will also supply batteries to Kia’s plant in Georgia and Hyundai Motor’s plant in Alabama.
Hyundai Motor and LG Chem have announced they will build a battery plant for EVs in Indonesia. The investment of $1.1 billion will be shared equally. The plant will mass produce batteries in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest reserves of nickel, and supply them to Hyundai Motor and Kia’s complete vehicle plants around the world. The new plant will be established on a 330,000 square meter site in an industrial park in the Karawang region, about 65 kilometers southeast of central Jakarta. Construction will begin by the end of this year and mass production will begin in 2024.
The plant will have an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours, enough to supply batteries for 150,000 EVs. Hyundai and Kia have a plan to launch a total of 23 new EV models in the next five years. In order to expand the range to include sedans, SUVs, and the Genesis luxury brand, stable procurement of batteries, a key component, has been an issue. The company’s first joint venture plant will lead to a long-term shift to EVs.
Korean battery giant SK Innovation announced that it will expand its supply of batteries to Hyundai Motor Group in North America, and the two companies will discuss the construction of a joint venture plant to increase supply after 2025. SK Innovation says it plans to support Hyundai Motor Group’s increased EV production in North America.
In addition to EV production at its existing Alabama plant, Hyundai Motor plans to start operations of a dedicated EV plant in Georgia by 2025. Kia Motors, a group company, will also increase EV production in Georgia, as stable procurement of batteries, a key component of EVs, has become an issue.
SK On, a battery subsidiary of SK Innovation, already supplies batteries for Hyundai Motor’s mainstay Ioniq EV series. In the U.S., SK On produces batteries at its existing Georgia plant, and after consulting with Hyundai Motor, the company will decide whether to expand the plant or establish a new joint venture plant.
The launch of new plant with full production capabilities for BMW SUVs is planned for July 2021. According to Kaliningrad officials, the new plant is one of the most important investment projects in the regional processing industry. Autotor holding makes up a significant part of the regional production.
Officials said the enterprise is one of the largest employers and taxpayers in Kaliningrad region. Construction of the plant building is underway, and machinery installation will be started in January 2021. The first car is expected to be produced in July 2021.
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