Japan's Toyota Announces EV, Battery Push In China, US As Quarterly Profit Surges

TOKYO: Toyota is developing and making electric vehicles and EV batteries in China, the Japanese automaker said Wednesday, under a new partnership with the Shanghai government. Toyota Motor Corp. also announced it will start producing batteries for EVs, hybrids, and plug-ins at a new USD 14 billion facility in North Carolina. Shipping for North American models will start in April. The moves highlight Toyota's aggressive push into electric cars, a sector where some critics have said it has fallen behind rivals like Tesla and BYD at a time when the Chinese EV market is booming. The world's concerns about sustainability are increasingly crucial.

Toyota is setting up a company in Jinshan district in southwest Shanghai for that effort, with production of the new Lexus EVs starting in 2027. The world's top automaker said that initial production capacity will be 100,000 vehicles per year, with 1,000 job openings. The battery plant in the US will create some 5,000 jobs, according to Toyota. Toyota's push also comes as worries grow around Asia about a potential trade war brewing after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, and China retaliated with tariffs to take effect next week. 

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Toyota develops EVs and batteries in China.

“We have always tried to be a company that will be loved wherever we do our business. That has never waffled,” Chief Financial Officer Yoichi Miyazaki told reporters without addressing the tariffs. Also Wednesday, Toyota reported fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 61 per cent from the previous fiscal year to 2.19 trillion yen (USD 14 billion) on 12.4 trillion yen (USD 81 billion), sales up by 3 per cent on-year.

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Toyota officials said sales were recovering from the drop earlier this fiscal year after some production was suspended over a certification scandal in Japan. Last year, Toyota acknowledged wide-ranging fraudulent testing, including the use of inadequate or outdated data in crash tests, incorrect testing of airbag inflation and engine power checks. The wrongdoing did not affect the safety of the vehicles and only affected production in Japan. Toyota revised its profit forecast for the full fiscal year through March 2025 to 4.5 trillion yen (USD 29 billion) from the previous projection for a 3.6 trillion yen (USD 24 billion) profit, thanks to the positive effect of the foreign exchange rate and cost reduction efforts. The new projection still falls short of what Toyota racked up the previous fiscal year at 4.9 trillion yen.

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According to Toyota, the new company in China is part of Toyota's drive to meet the high demand for EVs in China. The official said that Toyota already has China FAW Group Co. and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. as its longtime partners in China, and those will continue unchanged. Toyota hopes to contribute to the Chinese government's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, per PTI.

“Local Chinese members will take the lead in planning and developing BEVs that match the unique needs of Chinese customers. Our goal is to become a company that is more loved and supported by the people of China,” Miyazaki said.