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Look for Unprecedented Launch of EVs in Japanese Market
JAPAN REPORT
The Japanese market in 2022 will be greatly affected by two factors: COVID-19 in its third year and the semiconductor shortage. Despite this, companies are making steady progress in their approach to the industrial issues of the environment and safety, and in particular, the full-scale development of EV products is positioned as a major step toward the realization of carbon neutrality by 2050. The launch of EVs in the Japanese market in 2022 will be on an unprecedented scale.
Nissan will start selling its new model “ARIA” at the beginning of the year. Nissan and Mitsubishi are also jointly developing a mini-EV which they plan to launch early in 2022. Toyota and Subaru will also gradually roll out their first jointly developed SUV in Japan and overseas markets starting in mid-2022. Toyota’s “bZ4X” and Subaru’s “SOLTERRA” are the best-selling mid-size SUV EVs globally and will be the touchstone for future EV development. Honda will launch its first two Honda-brand EVs in China in the spring of 2022. These are also SUVs and will be marketed under the name “e:NS1” by Dongfeng Honda and “e:NP1” by Guangqi Honda, both of which are local joint ventures, and will be considered for export from China to global markets.
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Toyota Joins BYD To Build Affordable $30,000 Electric Car
JAPAN REPORT
Toyota reportedly has partnered with China’s BYD to develop an affordable electric car to launch next year. The Japanese automaker has widely been recognized as a laggard in the transition to electric vehicles. Years of betting on hydrogen fuel cells and hybrid vehicles has put Toyota behind on battery-electric vehicles.
Reuters reports Toyota is planning to release a “small and affordable electric sedan” in China next year:
The electric vehicle is reportedly going to be powered by BYD’s blade battery cells with LFP chemistry. LFP chemistry has improved enough in recent years that it is moving from mainly being used in electric buses to now electric cars. BYD’s blade battery has attracted a lot of attention – even from Tesla, according to reports coming out of China. A Toyota source talking to Reuters said that it is what is enabling the automaker to produce its first affordable all-electric car:
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NEDO Begins R&D of Hydrogen Aircraft
The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) says it will launch a four-topic research and development project for the development of next-generation aircraft, including core technologies for hydrogen aircraft and drastic weight reduction of major structural components of aircraft.
By using Japan’s strengths in elemental technologies such as hydrogen and materials, the project aims to increase the ratio of participation in international joint development of airframes and engines (currently about 20-30%) and contribute to the decarbonization of the aviation sector. It will be implemented as part of the Green Innovation Fund project with a total of 2 trillion yen. The budget is 21.08 billion yen. Kawasaki will develop the core technology for hydrogen aircraft, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and ShinMaywa Industries, Ltd. will develop complex shapes and dramatically reduce the weight of major structural parts of aircraft.
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TSMC Plans Plant in Japan, Operation Set for 2024
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.
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Toyota To Invest 1.5 trillion Yen in Auto Batteries
FAR EAST: JAPAN REPORT
Akihiro Komuro Toyota Motor Corporation has announced that it will invest 1.5 trillion yen in automotive batteries by 2030. Of this amount, 1 trillion yen will be used to increase the production capacity to 200 GWh, 33 times the current level. This is an increase of more than 10% over the previous target.
The company also announced that it will invest 500 billion yen in research and development, with the goal of reducing the cost of batteries per electric vehicle by more than half. As demand for electric vehicles is sure to grow, the battle for leadership among manufacturers will intensify.
Toyota’s investment in batteries was 80 billion yen in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021, and it is calculated to continue to exceed 100 billion yen per year until 2030. The total amount of capital investment is expected to be 1.35 trillion yen in the fiscal year ending March 2022, of which more than 10% will be allocated to batteries.
Source: The Nikkei
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COVID-19 Variant Disrupts Supply Chain
Akihiro Komuro In Southeast Asia, where the delta variant of the COVID-19 is spreading rapidly, business activities are becoming stagnant. In response to government regulations and the rapid increase in the number of infected people, major Japanese companies such as Toyota and Panasonic have suspended production at some of their plants. In addition to the decline in local sales, the disruption of the supply chain has also affected production in Japan.
Toyota has sequentially shut down all three of its plants in Thailand since July 20. The company has not yet decided when to resume operations because it has been unable to procure parts due to an outbreak of infection at one of its customers’ plants. Honda also shut down one of its plants in Thailand from August 3 to 5.
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Honda Staff Seek Early Retirement Amid EV Shift
Over 2,000 employees at Honda Motor have applied for early retirement, as the Japanese automaker restructures its workforce to gear up to make more electric vehicles.
Honda’s move is the latest in the trend among automakers to move away from the production and sales of internal combustion engines. Those employees account for around 5% of Honda’s full-time staff in Japan. Although Honda had not set a target, the number of applications has far exceeded its initial estimate of 1,000.
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Sany Challenges Komatsu’s Grip on Indonesian Construction Machinery Market
Akihiro Komuro The battle between major Japanese and Chinese construction machinery companies is intensifying in Indonesia. As the growth of the Chinese market slows, China’s Sanichi Heavy Industries is accelerating its overseas expansion in search of new sources of revenue.
Komatsu, which has a stronghold in Southeast Asia, is responding by introducing mid-priced machines and expanding its maintenance bases. Who will dominate the growing market following China will also affect the power structure of the construction equipment market in Asia.
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Sony Joins Komatsu’s DX Alliance
On July 1, Komatsu launched EARTHBRAIN, a new company for the digital transformation (DX) of construction sites. The new company will provide services that will lead to significant cost improvements by digitizing and analyzing data from construction sites.
The parent company of the new company is LandLog, an IoT (Internet of Things) open platform company established by Komatsu in 2017. The investors will be substantially replaced, and some members of Komatsu’s digital unit will be transferred to the new company.
After approval by overseas authorities, Komatsu will provide 54.5%, NTT DoCoMo 35.5%, and Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Nomura Research Institute (NRI) 5% each. The company is well capitalized with more than 15 billion yen. Newly added to the list are Sony and NRI. Sony has an advantage in image sensors. NRI will provide its expertise in developing digitalization solutions.
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Komatsu and Honda Plan To Jointly Develop Electric Excavator
Komatsu has announced that it plans to develop an electric excavator in cooperation with Honda and bring the product to the market during FY2021. The two companies will also jointly develop electric excavators up to the 1-ton class and will also collaborate on services such as battery replacement for construction equipment.
Source: The Nikkei
PSR Analysis: As mentioned in the April issue of PowerTALK™ News, four Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki, have agreed to share…
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