BYD EV sales outpace Toyota in Japan

View the 11 images of this gallery on the original article

BYD added more EVs to its offerings in Japan, including the Dolphin and Seal, the following year. The Dolphin is an electric hatchback that is meant to take on the Toyota Prius, which blazed the trail for hybrids to become what they are today. The Dolphin also competes with the Nissan LEAF, one of the industry’s first electric cars.

Story continues

The BYD Seal, an electric mid-size fastback sedan, officially debuted in June 2024 and was already the top-selling imported EV in Japan just two months later. This year, BYD plans to launch the Sealion 7, a midsize electric SUV.

Related: EV sales soar to record heights in 2024: What’s behind the gains?

Toyota might be changing its tune on hydrogen

While most other automakers have moved to electrification, Toyota has been hyping up hydrogen. Fortunately, the Japanese automaker might – might – be changing its tune, at least a little. At the very least, it seems Toyota might be hedging its bet on hydrogen.

The Mirai was released in 2014, and in the decade since then, only around 27,500 units have been sold. With that data in hand, Toyota seems willing to admit defeat, at least when it comes to passenger cars. Commercial vehicles, however, might still be on the table.

“On all levels, hydrogen has been a failure for passenger cars,” James Hong, head of Asia energy transition and commodities at Macquarie Capita, told Financial Times. “Where we still haven’t got an answer yet is on commercial vehicle or stationary energy storage demand.”

Instead of developing more hydrogen-powered passenger cars, Toyota is turning to its truck manufacturing subsidiary, Hino Motors, which is teaming up with other rivals to help offset costs. Potential allies include Hyundai, BMW, and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, all of which have invested in hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Related: Biden admin finalizes ban on Chinese cars

Interestingly, some higher-ups at Toyota may not be giving up on hydrogen passenger cars entirely. Insiders suggest that the Japanese automaker was discussing a partnership with Hyundai to develop more advanced hydrogen fuel cell vehicles just a few months ago.

Final thoughts

It’s becoming a story we’re hearing far too often: Toyota is yet another legacy automaker slow on the uptake when it comes to electrification. Chinese automakers put significant pressure on legacy automakers in China, and now their influence is spreading to new regions.

Considering Toyota normally dominates its homeland, BYD beating them out in the EV segment could be a sign of what’s yet to come. Toyota made a bad bet on hydrogen, but with the hard data now undeniable, perhaps we’ll see more EVs from the Japanese automaker.

Related: Nearly half of young Americans don’t want to own a car