Shanghai, December 24th (Xinhua) - According to multiple foreign media reports, Toyota is seeking to build a new electric vehicle factory in Shanghai as a sole proprietorship to produce electric vehicles for its luxury brand Lexus.
According to informed sources cited by foreign media, Toyota is working hard to obtain factory conditions in Shanghai that are comparable to Tesla's for the project, including land and policy support. The new factory is expected to be put into operation as early as 2027. Toyota plans to produce all Lexus models globally as electric vehicles by 2035.
It is reported that despite having multiple joint ventures in China, Toyota still hopes to build a wholly-owned Lexus electric vehicle factory.
At present, in the Chinese market, electric vehicles are showing sustained high-speed growth, and the electrification penetration rate of passenger cars has exceeded 50%. Due to their persistence in gasoline vehicles and slow transformation, as well as their insistence on hydrogen fuel cells and hybrid power routes in the field of electric vehicles, Japanese car manufacturers have been losing their market share in China and losing their advantage.
Last October, Mitsubishi Motors decided to terminate local production in China, and this year, Nissan and Honda have closed some factories.
Honda and Nissan jointly announced on the 23rd that they will officially start merger negotiations. At the same time, Mitsubishi Motors also confirmed that they will discuss participating in the merger in order to "unite and warm up" and overcome difficulties together.
Foreign media pointed out that from January to October this year, Toyota's sales in China decreased by 9.3% to about 1.41 million vehicles. Toyota plans to increase China's car production to 2.5 million vehicles per year by 2030, in order to gain a foothold in competition with BYD and other Chinese brands.