Toyota's platform strategy extends 2 million

Recently, the president of Toyota China and general manager of Toyota China Investment Co., Ltd. Masahiro Daishiro said: “We hope that Toyota will sell more than 1.1 million cars in China this year, and then gradually reach a scale of 2 million cars a year. At the same time, Toyota is still in China. To be the top-selling brand in all brands and the top-selling brand in Japanese brands."

Toyota is not the first Japanese car company to propose sales of 2 million cars in China. Both Nissan and Honda have made similar goals. To this end, Toyota will introduce more new products in the Chinese market, and the platform strategy will become the focus.

Target locks 7% market share

In the first quarter of this year, Toyota sold a total of 228,000 vehicles in China, which was a year-on-year increase of 23%. This increase was higher than that of Nissan, which has been leading Japanese car companies. In the face of this achievement, Toyota has thrown a brand new sales target at the Beijing Auto Show.

Although Daxi Hongzhi did not give the time for achieving the above three goals, he said: “When Toyota’s sales in China reach about 2 million units, the overall market size in China should be around 30 million. Toyota will then The share of the Chinese market will reach 7% to 8%, and the current market share is 5%."

IHS Automotive, a US automotive specialist, has predicted that sales of Chinese cars will exceed 30 million by 2019. Prior to this, multinational companies including General Motors had predicted that by 2020, China's auto production and sales will exceed 30 million vehicles.

At this point in time, there are not many Japanese brands that plan to produce and sell more than 2 million vehicles.

As early as in 2012 when Dongfeng Nissan announced the construction of a new factory in Dalian, Nissan announced that it will target production and sales of 2 million vehicles in 2015. According to Dongfeng Nissan’s plan, 1.5 million targets will be achieved in China next year, which is far higher than the sales plan of Toyota’s two joint ventures in China.

Previously, Guangzhou Automobile Honda also said that in 2020 sales will reach 1 million; Dongfeng Honda also said that around 2023, sales will reach 1 million. According to this plan, Honda will sell 2 million vehicles in China before and after 2023.

Platform strategy plan extends to Class B

With Nissan and Honda ahead of schedule, Toyota’s plan to lead Japanese brands in China will face considerable pressure. To this end, Toyota plans to accelerate the entry of products into China.

According to Toyota’s plan, more than 15 new models will be launched from 2014 to 2017; at the same time, the production system will be further strengthened to meet the diverse needs of Chinese consumers for mobile life.

With the acceleration of the introduction of Toyota's products in China, the platform strategy that has been applied for many years in the popular brand will also be promoted.

According to the reporter of “Daily Economic News”, as early as last year, when Toyota opened the “Small Car Strategy” in China, two new A0 models based on the same platform – the new Vios and Zhi Hyun, settled in FAW Toyota and Guangzhou Auto respectively. Toyota. This is the first test of the Toyota platform strategy in China.

This year, Toyota will build two new A-Class models based on the MC platform, the new Corolla and Ralink will also be located in FAW Toyota and GAC Toyota respectively.

If we say that the new Vios and Zhi Xuan are separated in appearance (the former is a hatchback and the latter is a sedan), how will the new Corolla and Ralink from the same platform? Positioning is a test for Toyota.

In response, Daxi Hongzhi said that as a product that has been sold in China for more than a decade, Corolla has a certain market base, so their more important job is to let consumers know where the car is improving and upgrading. Lei Ling is different, it is a new product of GAC Toyota, its role is to expand the scope of Toyota's user. Therefore, at the same time that Corolla is more attracted to the pursuit of stable consumers, Ralink is more emphasis on the personality and sportiness of the models. At the same time, he said: "In the future, Corolla and Ralink will also introduce hybrid versions."

In addition, Daisuke Hiroshi also revealed: "Toyota is considering extending its platform strategy from small cars to B-class cars (aka mid-level cars). As soon as GAC Toyota started production of Camry, FAW Toyota hoped to be developed on the same platform. At present, we are considering the idea of ​​FAW Toyota but we have not yet finalized it."

“This is mainly because if the FAW Toyota Motors and the Camry are on the same platform, they need to invest in building a brand-new platform and the cost is high. This investment needs to be approved by the joint venture partner FAW Group.” Daxi Hongzhi explained.