Japan's automakers are least prepared for zero-emissions shift

JAPANESE automakers Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor are the least prepared for a zero-emissions vehicle transition compared with their global competitors, according to research released Wednesday (May 18) from climate think tank InfluenceMap.

By 2029, just 14 per cent of Toyota's worldwide production is forecast to be battery-electric vehicles (EV), rising to 18 per cent for Honda and 22 per cent for Nissan, according to the study, which is based on an examination of future production data from IHS Markit.

That compares with South Korea's Hyundai Motor, which is forecast to achieve 27 per cent EV production levels globally by 2029 and Ford Motor and Volkswagen, at 36 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.

Japanese automakers have lagged behind global peers in rolling out electric cars and the country's EV penetration rate is barely 1 per cent. Honda has budgeted 5 trillion yen (S$54 billion) over the next decade to make cleaner cars. Subaru has said it will spend around 250 billion yen on EV battery capacity over the next 5 years.

Toyota, and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, which is chaired by Toyota, meanwhile continue to promote hydrogen as one of the key solutions to carbon neutrality, along with electric cars.

Across all automakers, hydrogen-powered vehicles are forecast to account for just 0.1 per cent of global production by 2029, the study found.

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"The fact that Toyota and Nissan are the 2 lowest-scoring companies highlights the strong link between negative climate policy engagement and low levels of electric vehicle production forecasts," InfluenceMap programme manager Ben Youriev said.

"In Toyota's case, it continues to strongly push combustion-engine powered hybrids - even in highly developed markets like Japan and the US - despite recent warnings from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientists that electric vehicles powered by low-emissions electricity offer the largest decarbonisation potential for land-based transport on a life cycle basis." BLOOMBERG