A major shift is happening in the car world as Toyota and its suppliers are pouring billions into making electric vehicles. According to InsideEVs, these Japanese companies are changing their focus from regular gas cars to electric ones. This big move comes as Chinese car makers are pushing hard into the electric car market around the world.
Who Is Spending Money on Electric Cars?
Toyota isn’t doing this alone. The company and its main helpers are working together on this big change. These helper companies make important parts for Toyota’s cars.
- Toyota (the main car company)
- Denso (makes electronic parts)
- Aisin (makes transmissions and other parts)
- Toyota Industries
- Aichi Steel
- Toyota Gosei
- Toyota Boshoku
- Jtekt
Denso’s boss, Shinnosuke Hayashi, and another top leader named Yasushi Matsui are leading this change at one of Toyota’s biggest suppliers. They’ve made a clear decision to stop putting money into old-style engines that burn gas.
How Much Money Is Being Spent?
The numbers are huge. Toyota’s suppliers are increasing their investment in electric cars by more than 7 percent. This means they will spend about $7 billion on developing new technologies for electric cars and self-driving features. Self-driving means cars that can drive themselves, either partly or completely, without a human driver.
Toyota’s Big Plans for Electric Cars
Toyota has set a goal to make 15 different kinds of electric cars by 2027. According to DailyRevs, they want to make about 1 million electric cars every year. This is a really big number and shows how serious they are about electric vehicles.
To make all these cars, Toyota is building factories in many different countries. According to Reuters, this smart approach helps them avoid problems if one country has issues and makes delivery times shorter.
- United States: Will make a three-row SUV (big car with three rows of seats) in Kentucky
- Thailand: New production facility
- Argentina: South American production
- China: New company in Shanghai
- Japan: Home country production
According to Reuters, Toyota will create a new company in Shanghai to develop and make electric cars and batteries for its fancy Lexus brand. This company will make about 100,000 cars per year starting in 2027.
Toyota will also work with the Shanghai city government on projects to reduce pollution, helping China reach its clean energy goals by 2060. This means making less harmful gas that warms up our planet.
Why Car Parts Companies Are Changing Direction
The biggest reason for this change is that the whole world is moving toward electric cars. But there’s more to it:
- Chinese car makers are creating strong competition
- Countries are making rules that favor electric cars
- People are becoming more worried about pollution
- The technology for electric cars is getting better and cheaper
Denso, one of Toyota’s main suppliers, has made a very clear statement that they will stop investing in internal combustion engines – the old-style engines that burn gasoline or diesel. This is a huge change because these companies have spent decades making these kinds of engines better.
Electric Car Sales: Different Stories Around the World
Not all countries are seeing the same pattern with electric car sales. Some places are buying lots of electric cars, while others are slowing down.
| Region | EV Sales Trend | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Dropping (April 2025) | Tariffs and model changes |
| Australia | Growing fast | Open to Chinese EVs |
| Thailand | Growing fast | Open to Chinese EVs |
| Mexico | Growing fast | Open to Chinese EVs |
| Brazil | Growing fast | Open to Chinese EVs |
According to Reuters, Ford saw some interesting changes in its April 2025 sales in the United States. Overall car sales went up, but electric car sales went down a lot:
- Overall car sales: Up 16% (mostly from trucks)
- Electric car sales: Down 40% (including Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning)
- Hybrid car sales: Up 30% (cars that use both gas and electricity)
One possible reason for this drop is new tariffs – extra taxes on imported goods. According to TheVerge, these tariffs could make cars cost about $10,000 more. This price jump made many people rush to buy cars earlier, causing a temporary boost in sales that is now cooling off.
Why Chinese Companies Matter in This Story
Countries that allow Chinese electric cars to be sold easily are seeing much faster growth in electric car use. Chinese companies have made electric cars that are often cheaper and have good technology.
This creates pressure on companies like Toyota to move faster with their electric car plans. If they don’t keep up, they might lose customers to these new companies from China.
What This Means for the Future
All these changes show that the car world is going through a major shift. Companies that have made gas-powered cars for decades are now putting billions of dollars into electric technology.
For you as someone who might buy a car in the next few years, this means more choices. You’ll see more electric cars from different companies, possibly at better prices as competition increases.
The race to make better electric cars is heating up, and you’re likely to benefit from it. Better technology, longer driving ranges, and possibly lower prices could all be coming as these big companies fight for your business.
