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The story
Nikkei reports that for the next-generation EVs Toyota plans to build in China starting fall 2027, Chinese suppliers have snapped up much of the contract work that Japanese parts makers had hoped to win. Control-cable orders for the “Lexus 761D” project reportedly went to Chinese manufacturers. Reactions on 5ch were split — from puzzlement over why Toyota insists on producing in China despite the weak yen, to claims that Chinese-made batteries and control systems already outperform the competition, to a jaded view that Toyota exists for its shareholders and employees, not for Japan.
Parts makers affiliated with Toyota Motor are stewing over the situation. It began with the next-generation electric vehicle (EV) Toyota plans to build in China starting fall 2027. They had hoped to carry over the technology they had developed, but it appears many contracts have instead gone to Chinese parts companies.
In February 2026, a Chinese auto parts maker that makes automotive control cables added this to its New Year’s greeting: “Looking back on 2025, we secured major contracts including Toyota’s Lexus ‘761D’ project…” (continues in the paid edition, 1,514 characters remaining)
Nikkei, September 25, 2026, 5:00 AM
Source: nikkei.com / Read the original article
What people said
With the yen this weak, there's no point building in expensive China.
If everything the LDP, Keidanren, and the lapdog media have been saying is true, labor costs in Japan are already below China's as it stands — so the best move is to hurry up and move the factories to poverty-stricken Japan.
If China overtakes it here too, that's really the end for Japan.
Sad to say, but it's just a matter of time.
Toyota is sourcing from local suppliers and training up suppliers who can meet Toyota's world-class standards…
This is bad.
Toyota is going to destroy itself.
Sericulture (silk farming), one of the pillar industries after modernization, is already finished.
It was an industry the Meiji government mechanized and grew by relying on French expertise.
Toyota and Nissan also got their start manufacturing silk-reeling machinery before moving into cars.
Now it's even been overtaken by Southeast Asia, and the huge mills — once twice the size of France's — have shut down.
I wonder if the auto industry is next to go under.
Maybe any business that depends on foreign know-how is inherently weak because of the competition it invites.
Even with good quality, it seems you collapse fast once a price war shakes you.
In the end, the traditional, down-to-earth products that make use of local natural resources are the strongest.
That's just how consumers are, in the end.
With the weak yen making everyone giddy, you won't even be able to afford one lol
No young talent is coming in anyway, so they'll be gone before long.
every Japanese citizen has, on average, handed roughly 1 million yen each in hard-earned tax money — via subsidies — to these unscrupulous merchants.
Still more sensible than handing out gasoline subsidies for noisy, foul-exhaust gasoline cars lol
Wasn't that like 200 billion yen a month? lol
The reason they were down on EVs was that they didn't want to get their position flipped by companies like Nidec, right?
And in fact, Nissan and Honda are already being dominated by Hitachi-affiliated suppliers.
If they could become like Apple, they could say "then we just won't let you supply us" — but automakers have plenty of competitors, so the tables really have turned.
BYD has a good reputation in Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Bringing patriotism or "selling out the country" into this is foolish — that's just how market principles work.
but at the B2B level, well, that's another story.
As things stand, they're not selling enough in Japan to really count as a threat.
The US bans imports outright,
while Europe does local production.
Also, the US imports the Shark via the Mexican border, and it's popular there (as an RV/camper-style vehicle).
It's basically Korean cars' turf now.
Source: my own gut feeling.
I mean, in the EU market Chinese cars are already outselling Japanese cars.
I might get branded a "50-cent army" shill (paid pro-China commenter) just for stating facts, but…
Looking at registration numbers, the gap is only about 10%.
Might just vary by country.
EU+EFTA+UK Jan-Aug 2026 registration figures for Asian makers:
Hyundai 686,252 (-1.9%) ← South Korea
Toyota 618,091 (+0.5%)
Geely 289,128 (+11.6%) ← China
BYD 234,099 (+144.1%) ← China
SAIC 230,099 (+19.7%) ← China
Chery 207,871 (+279.7%) ← China
Nissan 180,298 (-9.7%)
Suzuki 116,517 (-0.5%)
Mazda 111,975 (+12.3%)
Leapmotor 73,297 (+449.9%) ← China
Honda 49,779 (+4.7%)
Mitsubishi 20,740 (-37.9%)
Thinking about resale value, which would you actually buy at the dealer — hybrid or EV?
That's just following in the footsteps of the American auto industry.
Write it off as "whatever" and mock it, and before you know it you're stuck only able to build big, gas-guzzling cars, left behind by everyone else.
Re: #188
EVs and self-driving cars are where dominance is headed next.
Chinese hybrid cars have already surpassed Toyota's, so before long hybrids will be mostly Chinese-made too.
Background and Key Points
As background, when automakers produce vehicles at overseas bases, it’s standard practice to prioritize local sourcing to hold down tariffs and logistics costs, and the rising share of Chinese-made parts in this case appears to follow that same pattern. In the thread, doubts about the economic rationale of sticking with Chinese production despite the weak yen sit alongside claims that Chinese firms are already pulling ahead in specific technologies like batteries and e-axles — suggesting this isn’t simply a story of “Japan’s declining technological strength.” Note that most of the Nikkei article sits behind its paywall, so the specific items and scale of the lost contracts remain unclear. The European new-car registration data cited in the thread shows Chinese manufacturers posting large year-on-year gains, and how this shift in parts sourcing ripples into future sales share is also worth watching.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “Toyota’s Next-Gen EV: Chinese Makers Take Over Key Parts, Local Japanese Suppliers Keep Losing Out.”
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