-Toyota bZ4X Picture Source: Nekkei Asia Website
If there is one brand which comes to mind when you hear the term “electric car”, it’s Tesla. Tesla has been the sole dominant force in the electric car industry with their innovative and futuristic line-up of electric cars. Throughout the years that Tesla has been available on the market, they have grown a reputation for being reliable, safe, smart and most importantly, sustainable. All of these characteristics have led to Tesla becoming an extremely desirable and unique brand. Behind the wheel of this successful brand is none other than the wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk, who has become an icon in the eyes of millions of aspiring entrepreneurs around the world.
However, there are two behemoths in the motoring world that also have their eyes pried on the electric car market, and they are eager to steal the throne for themselves. These motoring giants are Toyota and Volkswagen.
Toyota and Volkswagen are both looking to invest a combined value of $170 billion in the electric car market to catapult themselves ahead of Tesla. These two giants have an exponential array of tools and funding at their disposal, and they also have the infrastructure to outpace Tesla in terms of production as well. The two world’s largest automakers made on average 11 cars for every one Tesla made last year, and they are bracing themselves to fully commit to electric vehicles.
Andy Palmer, the former chief of Aston Martin and ex-Nissan Co. executive, commented, “When the two biggest car companies decide to go all-in on electric, then there’s no longer a question of speculation – the mainstream is going electric… I expect the shift to electric to be faster than everyone expects”.
However, when it boils down to the execution of their goal to secure the electric vehicles market, the two companies have completely different strategies.
- VW ID.3 Picture Credit: Martin Katler
Volkswagen, the proud 84-year-old German car manufacturer who generates more than $280 billion a year is going all out on the EV market. Volkswagens CEO Herbert Diess has announced a startling $100 billion investment on EV development spread over the next half-decade. Volkswagen has a wide range of electric cars already on sale as well, with their luxury models like the Audi e-tron and Porsche Taycan along with more mainstream options like the ID.3 hatchback and ID.4 sport utility vehicle. “Our transformation will be fast [and] bigger than anything the industry has seen in the past century”, commented Herbert Diess.
Toyota on the other hand has taken a less direct approach. The grandson of Toyota’s founder commented, “heading into uncertainty what we need is diverse solutions … We don’t want to tie ourselves to just one option”. Toyota has chosen to take a less committed and more diverse route when it comes to the future of the motoring industry. Toyota is planning on investing $70 billion in the electrification of their fleet and half of that will be dedicated to fully electric cars as Toyota is still focusing on hybrid and hydrogen powered cars as well. Toyota plans on rolling out 30 new models of electric cars by 2030.
Tesla has yet to face some stern resistance in the near future, but overall, this new upcoming rivalry will act as a catalyst to push us into a more sustainable lifestyle.
January 06th 2022 | 5:50 PM