2022 Volume 14 Issue 1 Pages 67-87
In contrast with American and European automobile companies, which suffered under the COVID-19 pandemic, Toyota Motor Corporation endured with no significant negative impact. However, in the “wars” caused by the arrival of the age of CASE—namely connected cars (C), autonomous vehicles (A), share driving (S), and electric vehicles (E) —Toyota’s record is not encouraging.
This paper evaluates Toyota’s strategy for electric vehicles (EV), focusing on the following questions based on the theories of dynamic managerial capabilities (DMC) and dynamic platform strategy: (1) Is Toyota’s speed of new entry into the EV business enough? (2) If Toyota’s speed of entry is insufficient, what are the reasons? (3) Is Toyota adequately prepared for the “EV wars” with IT giants including GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon)?
The results were that Toyota’s speed of new entry and preparation for GAFA are not enough because of insufficiency of dynamic managerial capabilities (DMC), though the company excelled with respect to strategic changes executed immediately after the emergence of the era of CASE. The reasons for failing to introduce additional drastic changes were: (1) retention of a mindset that is based on its past success. (2) A lack of a sense of social responsibility for global warming. (3) A lack of a sense of caution for GAFA.
