Chinese manufacturers are launching electric cars at a hellish pace. Toyota’s response: Kaizen philosophy

Two years ago, Tesla was advancing at a dizzying pace. Their sales were growing and they were putting all their machinery in motion to maintain an advantage over competitors. Its production process allowed it to manage such high profit margins that later they could push hard on the price end. Part of his secret was machine called Giga Press. The we could see in their Berlin factory with our own eyes. Huge, imposing. With it, the company produces larger chassis parts more quickly. That allows you manufacture much faster than the competition because for rivals that same piece consists of many other smaller pieces that must be assembled. The revolution is such that large companies They seemed determined to get theirs own to be able to stand up. Tesla also announced that I was ready to create larger pieces and, therefore, further reduce times manufacturing with a larger Giga Press. Time has told us thatElon Musk’s are having problems to carry out this evolution of the Giga Press. And that the machine, no matter how much it can make copies at a great rate, also has its counterpart as very long machine breaks when you want to modify the part in question. But speed up development times seems to be the focus of large companies. Chery assured a long time ago that chinese rule It was kind of inevitable. For them, Europe has lost the battle because the development of their vehicles is much fasterresponding to public demands at a frenetic pace. And although we are talking about a Chinese brand defending its business formula, the industry does seems to be moving in that direction. Honda and Nissan explored a merger to save this second one from bankruptcy. One of the objectives to be exploited with this possible merger was to be more agile in the development of automobiles. Renault boasted just a few days ago that your Twingo has been developed in record time. In China, of course. But faced with the infernal pace and a frenetic launch number, Toyota seems to be opting for the complete opposite. Pause and perfectionism. In short: philosophy kaizen. Why does an electric car have less autonomy than advertised? Kaizen philosophy or how to perfect a product A good example of how the Chinese industry pushes to launch models on the market at a frenetic pace is that of BYD. The Chinese company is experiencing first-hand the dangers of following the devilish pace of less powerful startups when you aspire to manufacture more than five million cars a year. And 2025 has been marked by the announcement that they would incorporate their most advanced driving systems into all their cars in China. To all, without exception, including the BYD Seagull (BYD Dolphin Surf in Europe). A car that sells for less than 10,000 euros in the Asian market. This has become obsolete of their own cars and has had an immediate consequence, with customers waiting for the new and more advanced models, the units that do not incorporate this technology have accumulated in their dealerships waiting for a possible buyer. That strategy, that of launching a product on the market in the shortest possible time and fixing its possible defects on the fly, relying on a adaptive capacity Extraordinarily fast, it plays against what the Japanese philosophy has always been. In Japan they have made philosophy kaizen its greatest exponent. Guillermo García Alfonsín explains in this documentary on YouTube how Japan has built a car empire from nothing. One of the great secrets has always been to study to the point of exhaustion how to improve an existing product, paying obsessive attention to the smallest detail. The result is that Japanese companies are always at the top of the reliability tables. Chinese manufacturers are choosing to reduce development times to a minimum. Toyota bets on the opposite The culture shock is evident. Faced with companies that develop their products at a dizzying pace and apply all kinds of improvements in the shortest possible time, Japanese perfectionism prefers to play it safe, with lead feet but with the guarantee that what they put on the market is the best result they can achieve. a few months ago From Toyota itself it was implied that the rush had reached the heart of the company, that they felt they were missing the train of the technology of the future. To this narrative, it is now assured Nikkei, The conservative vision has prevailed: a generation of cars that will last up to nine years to safely face the leap to electric cars. Until now, each generation of Toyota lasted between five and seven years, moving at the same times as the rest of the industry. The Japanese newspaper assures, however, that Toyota is betting on renewals of the models that will approach the decade and that it will be the remote updates that keep the car up to date. Of course, in Nikkei They point out that the models for China will follow their own rhythm, with more constant launches. The decision also seems a response to a complicated regulatory market. Toyota is one of the few companies that has renounced the electric car As the only solution, he has been defending for some time that each market requires different cars and that it is necessary to adapt to them. And in that context, it is the automotive group that more cars sold by far. The Japanese are treading carefully before making the leap to electrification. He Toyota bZ4X It was a sales failure and aspires with its latest update to boost the units it has put on the market. High consumption, equally high price and an improvable production process They put an end to the company’s first electric model. The jump to the electric car is also a challenge for the company, according to the consultants employed by the same company. The reverse engineering company Caresoft Global It already alerted Toyota that its production process … Read more

The fusion of illegal races and Kaizen philosophy

The search for continuous improvement. Evolve to be better with small changes that go, very little by little, perfecting the product by touching the sick. These are the Kaizen philosophy bases. The name, in fact, perfectly represents what tries to explain. It cannot be more explicit since it uses the Japanese terms kai (change) and zen (good). Along the way, it is about applying a series of strategies to eliminate the most inefficient processes, correct errors as soon as possible by applying immediate solutions or promote collective participation. But there are two other pillars that define perfectly what we are going to talk about next. Kaizen philosophy tries to optimize times and resources while having an open mind to apply small changes that make the product evolve and take it to a new stadium. The latter was key when one of Toyota’s most mythical cars was born: the supra. We would not have Toyota supra without celica … and without Kaizen philosophy When he talks about Kaizen philosophy, in Toyota they have a lot to say. In fact, it is your way of explaining What is a Takumi And why they have figures in charge of simply feeling cars to discover small irregularities to correct during the production process. It is that idea of ​​combining small changes, very small, that when adding and one takes distance to see the complete result, it realizes that it has created a completely disruptive product. It is, in fact, what happened with the Toyota supra. To understand the origin of the Toyota Supra we have to look back. Specifically half a century to go to the 70s. Then, Toyota began to manufacture the Toyota Celica. It was 1970 and the new Japanese sportsman was born from the base of the Toyota Carina to which the possibility of being able to choose between a 1.4 or 1.6 liter engine and two types of gearboxes (manual or automatic) was added. The car was born as a Coupé 2+2 To enjoy relaxed, combining good performance but without sacrificing the comfort comfort. Very soon the car had a redesign that accentuated the Coupé forms, leaving a single door to each side and a huge back gate that facilitated access to the trunk and its load. The reception was so good that Toyota gave continuity to Celica just a little later. In 1977 a second generation already had on the market that already opted for the three -door body and that, again, was defined by the Carina platform. And aware of the car’s sports potential, in 1979 the word supra appears for the first time. The supra was a special finish for the Toyota Celica. It was called, in fact, Toyota Celica supra (MKI). He lengthened the body a bit and added some most expensive finishes such as the four disc brakes or independent suspensions. But, above all, he added a six online cylinders and 2.6 liters delivered 110 hp. That power jump and that engine were those that marked the future of their future. Taking advantage of the second generation of Toyota Celica, in 1982 the Toyota Celica supra would be launched in its second generation. The forms were now much more sharp and design decisions were included that would later be fully identifying, such as the sneakable headlights. The six -cylinder engine was maintained but the power rose to 145 hp. Although he added more centimeters along, the battle was shorter than that of his predecessor. Now, yes, he earned agility and, therefore, in sports sensations. The car had taken a qualitative leap in this regard. The qualitative success was received with open arms. Japanese industry in the 80s flew. American intervention after World War II helped the nation to be a country razed to One of the most leading countries of the world technologically. Potential clients earned so much money that everything accelerated and the Japanese car lived among product generations of just four years. Currently, a car has a commercial life of about seven years but at that time it was about putting a car on the market in less than a five years. Young people were looking for fast and powerful cars in which spend money. The bubble also provided cash for a fashion that took strength in the 80s, the Touge Street Racing. He Touge Street Racing or tōge They were illegal races that took advantage of the large mountain roads of the country to ascend or desce continued in the 90s. This is what we can see in Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift but that became popular to the point of become its own culture, Anime included and with space in numerous racing video games. The perfect ingredients had entered the cocktailboard for Toyota to hurry the deadlines and in 1986 he launched the first completely independent version of the Toyota Supra. He returned for his fueros, with a six online cylinders that, this time, reached 200 hp of power. Later he would raise this power to 230 hp adding a turbo. The car was very fast but growing in size and power had begun to take forms of great tourism, a car with which to travel could be very quick but not as dynamic as you once. The solution went through giving it a little more spicy. How much? Transform it into a supercar. In 1990, Honda had launched the Honda NSXa car with which he intended to rival the best and at the same time positioning a car of very high benefits Without all those young people who had the money for punishment. Toyota’s response came in 1993 with Toyota Supra A80its most remembered generation. The Toyota Supra left its angular shapes behind and opted for the curves, with a huge rear axle and a spoiler that falls in love. Under the hood he kept a six online 3.0 -liter cylinders that in its biuturbo version reached 324 hp and that delighted the trainers. Because the car became a … Read more

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.