Tesla has grown in no time to become the most valuable car manufacturer in the world. Toyota has been dethroned, but is not impressed. This is evident from the words of CEO Akio Toyoda.
Last summer, Tesla surpassed Toyota as the ‘most valuable car manufacturer’ in the world. In terms of ‘brand value’, Toyota is still the absolute number 1. At the top, Toyota has therefore gained a new party to take into account, but it seems that CEO Akio Toyoda is certainly not concerned about it. In no uncertain terms, he expresses his view that Tesla is just ‘a little boy’: “Tesla says their recipe will become the standard in the future. Toyota already has a kitchen and a real chef,” is the imagery of the Japanese according to Bloomberg.
Toyoda emphasizes that Toyota is a much larger player, especially in terms of production. The grandson of Toyota’s founder seems to think it’s a bit of a hype: “They don’t really make anything real. People buy the ‘recipe’. We make real food.” With that imagery, Toyoda seems to question Tesla’s decisiveness in terms of production and quality. He also thinks the nuance that Tesla is ahead of Toyota in terms of market value is important: “We lose it (from Tesla, ed.) On share value, but when it comes to products, we really have something to offer our customers.” Remarkably strong statements from the Toyota president.
Although Toyota is still mainly taking a strong market share with its hybrid-powered models, fully electric driving is also certainly part of Toyota’s future. It is working (together with subsidiary brands Subaru and Daihatsu) on a range of all-electric crossovers, pushing forward the new Mirai this year and aiming to sell 5.5 million electrified cars annually by 2025. A significant part of it must therefore already be fully electrically powered.