Toyota doesn’t just build cars; it builds an automotive industry. Paraphrased, these are the words of Kiichiro Toyoda, founder of what would become the world’s largest automaker. In the 1930s, a time when Japan was incapable of making cars, Kiichiro, ever the industrialist, had a long-term vision in mind. What he sought out was not to simply build Toyota as a company, but an entire industry. He gathered those who share his sentiment, and together—be it through suppliers, dealers, and financial institutions—they created what would become the formidable Japanese automotive machinery everyone knows today.
Kiichiro’s way of thinking—one where Toyota invests first in people and the ecosystem to build an industry even before the first car ever rolls off the production line—drives its corporate values. It intrinsically links Toyota into a region or country’s history, and it’s this history that helps drive what the carmaker does in the long-term.
In the words of Toyota’s chairman, Akio Toyoda, “We cannot make customers happy by just promoting the total number of vehicles. Becoming the best-in-town is what is most important. Toyota affiliates, plants, distributors, and dealerships should always aim to be the best-in-town company that people in their respective towns trust the most.”
This trust, Toyota recognizes, makes them remain competitive in the good times and the bad. Its long history and staying power sparks confidence that Toyota will remain strong in any region that they are in, no matter what. Since trust is a two-way street, it helps Toyota develop a strong relationship with its partners and suppliers, while also helping them keep in touch with the psyche of its customers. This enables them to design and engineer vehicles that meet the needs of the market at the right time.
Instead of insisting that “one size fits all,” Toyota believes regionalization is key to make their vehicles intrinsically linked to a region’s culture. In turn, they become emotional, aspirational choices.
One example is the global vehicle platform called IMV. The “Innovative International Multi-Purpose Vehicle” which was introduced in 2002 had the goal of creating a common platform to support different vehicles that meet the diverse mobility needs of developing markets. The Hilux, Innova, Fortuner, and now, the Tamaraw and Land Cruiser FJ must be able in navigating scenarios ranging from nicely-paved urban avenues to muddy, pothole-ridden dirt trails.
Beyond platforms, Toyota applies this very same philosophy when it comes to the technologies that they roll out. With “Mobility for All” being its primary mission, Toyota comes to understand that “All” represents that every individual deserves the right mobility solution. It’s about offering the right choice; the right technological solution to ensure that no one is left behind.
Only possible thanks to Toyota’s Multi-Pathway approach, it offers customers with a choice of sustainable solutions. This strategy, which accounts for a region’s energy mix, also considers, of course, the specific needs and requirements of a particular region. These include flex-fuel hybrids, small hybrid electric vehicles, and even internal combustion engine vehicles powered by sustainable fuel.
Toyota looks at reducing carbon emissions from an overall perspective and considers how to best utilize the finite resources. While other carmakers, for example, will focus on rolling out one battery electric vehicle, Toyota can roll out an equivalent 92 hybrid electric vehicles by distributing the available battery capacity across different powertrains. This results in a 45 percent net emissions drop in the process.
Specifically, this is how Toyota plans to reinvent the bestselling car of all time: the Corolla. Though it’s the car for the majority, the majority don’t necessarily want the same answer. Thus, beneath the new, cutting-edge design, it will sport various powertrain options allowing regions to choose whatever powertrain works best.
Among the new engines confirmed to be fitted in the all-new Corolla is a next-generation 1.5-liter with a high thermal efficiency resulting in big fuel economy gains.
Carrying the “N15” codename (still subject to change, Toyota says), this new 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine will have a 10 percent reduction in both volume and height compared to the current 1.5-liter. It will also adopt a Miller cycle, eliminating the current Atkinson Cycle’s more complicated packaging.
Still in development, the combustion engine alone makes 95 horsepower and 120 Nm of torque. Meanwhile, the combined output is being targeted to be at least 100 kW (135 horsepower)—making it just as powerful as Toyota’s current crop of electrified 1.8-liter hybrids but with 20 percent better fuel efficiency.
The next-generation Toyota engines are also built with extreme modularity in mind meaning economies of scale and easier maintenance/parts replacement. In addition, the packaging will enable Toyota to use EV-first platforms as a starting point, which can be easily re-engineered to fit either a hybrid or even plug-in hybrid layouts.
To prove that point, Toyota showed the “G20E-GTS” which could one day power high-performance variants of the Corolla and other sports-oriented models.
This 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder is highly flexible in that it’ll fit in both transverse and longitudinal layouts. It will also be able to take on a variety of transmissions including a manual gearbox. Using 100 octane fuel, the G20E-GTS produces around 400 horsepower.
The electrified Corolla is part of Toyota’s broader plan to roll out more than 10 electrified vehicles across the region in the next two years. Just recently, the carmaker has announced plans to produce BEVs in both Thailand and Indonesia, including the Hilux EV.
Through its 30 x 30 Mission, Toyota is targeting 30 percent of all sales in ASEAN to be electrified by 2030. By then, cumulative electrified vehicle sales are expected to surpass 1.5 million units—equivalent to the environmental impact of planting 25 million trees, or reducing 8 million tons of CO2 emissions.
Unlike other carmakers that are blinded by sales numbers or ranking, Toyota sees being number one as the result. It’s the result of listening to customers and balancing innovation with enduring benefits. By investing in the regions that they’re in, Toyota builds vehicles which are well-attuned to its customers. Moreover, it’s a constant reminder that Toyota will always be there.
