The company has also planned to release an electric vehicle in India.
“If you’re offering a product to a kei car (minicar) customer, it’s essential to come within the ¥1 million range,” president Toshihiro Suzuki told reporters Wednesday. “We aim to somehow introduce it by 2025,” he said of the Japan EV launch.
This rollout will come later than affordable electric vehicles from other Japanese automakers. Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors plan a spring 2022 domestic release of an EV costing around ¥2 million – on a par with a gasoline vehicle.
“I can’t deny that we’re lagging behind competitors, but infrastructure development and manufacturing a product that is acceptable to customers (in quality) are necessary, too,” president Suzuki said.
Chinese players are going on the offensive in the global EV market by launching affordable vehicles priced around US$4,500.
“We’re still not sure if they will take over the market,” president Suzuki said. “Based on the reliability of the batteries and other factors, I don’t think they will be drivable in Japan as they are now.”
He said the company will be able to compete on product quality, even with low prices becoming necessary.
Batteries will be central to slashing EV prices. Here, the president did not touch on Suzuki Motor’s parts-sharing tie-up with Toyota Motor, which is developing its own batteries. But he said batteries are not at the “standardisation stage” yet.
“The key is whether you can make products using light materials at the lowest possible cost,” he said.
The introduction of advanced technology has been a main reason behind rising vehicle prices.
“It’s true that kei cars and compact vehicles share the same demands to improve features, but I doubt that is the full picture,” president Suzuki said. The automaker will continue to pursue affordability, he said.
Suzuki Motor will cooperate with the competition to lower costs, he said, referring to the Toyota-led alliance to develop technology for commercial vehicles.
Apple reportedly plans to start selling a fully autonomous EV as soon as 2025. The US tech giant has not reached out to Suzuki Motor, according to the latter’s president.
“This is an era of big changes,” he said. “You may need to join hands with entirely different industries. It’s possible to join hands with startups. The doors are always open.”