Toyota looks to overhaul EV strategy as new CEO takes charge

After making sweeping changes to its leadership team, Japan's Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) is looking at a factory floor overhaul as it maps out a move to a new, dedicated platform for battery electric vehicles, four people familiar with the matter said.

Koji Sato may confirm that new EV architecture is in the works at his first briefing as CEO on Friday, one of the people has said.

It was, however, not immediately clear as of Thursday evening as to whether the plan had been formally approved.

The world's biggest automaker increasingly recognizes it needs to match Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) design and manufacturing innovations if it is to drive down production costs and turn its all-electric business into a higher margin one as its Silicon Valley rival has done, another person said.

It continues to study the issue, that person said.

A new EV platform, if implemented, would be the result of a far-reaching review of Toyota's electric-car strategy undertaken last year.

Slow to push hard into battery electrics, such a move by Toyota would bring the automaker into line with other global rivals. Its current production architecture, the e-TNGA system, was launched in 2019 and produces electric vehicles on the same assembly line as gasoline cars and hybrids.

E-TNGA can't, however, provide the cost savings Tesla has managed with its massive Giga Press casting machines and other manufacturing innovations.

The sources declined to be identified because the information was confidential. Asked for comment, Toyota said questions could be asked at Friday's briefing.

Sato, Toyoda's hand-picked successor, recently attended an internal presentation that focused on the need for a dedicated battery-electric platform, a more competitive system to manage heat generated by the battery as well as other innovations influenced by Tesla's playbook, according to a third person.

The briefing was given by the former chief competitive officer tasked with the EV strategy review, Shigeki Terashi, according to the person.

Several projects that were supposed to take advantage of the e-TNGA platform are now being delayed or cancelled, a separate person said.