CHAPTER 309: CHAPTER 309: ENTERING THE JAPANESE MARKET?

Toyota Osamu nodded.

Chen Yiyang felt like he was dreaming for a moment.

Buddy, you can’t be serious.

The market value of Toyota Company converted to RMB is over two trillion.

I’m just a small fry with a net worth of a few billion.

Toyota’s in trouble, and you’re asking me for help?

"But it’s not about asking you to solve this forgery issue for Toyota; it’s about something else."

Toyota Osamu noticed Chen Yiyang’s shock and hurriedly explained.

"Oh, that’s good," Chen Yiyang breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "What is it about?"

"You mentioned before that you own an electric vehicle company, right?"

"Yes, I already have three car factories in Huaxia, Brazil, and Russia, but the first electric car from my company is still under design."

"Is there a possibility for you to sell electric cars in Japan?"

Toyota Osamu suddenly spoke, "As long as what you’re selling are electric cars, it doesn’t matter whether they’re produced by Yiyang Automobile."

"Uh, I don’t quite understand what you mean."

Chen Yiyang looked at Toyota Osamu, feeling confused by his words.

You’re from a Japanese car company, actually inviting a foreign car company to sell cars in Japan?

What kind of twist is this?

It’s not just about whether Toyota agrees internally; even the Japanese Government wouldn’t agree, right?

"The reasons are a bit complicated; let me explain briefly. It involves Toyota, the Japanese Government, and other factors."

As Toyota Osamu explained, Chen Yiyang gradually understood why Toyota Osamu made this request.

Simply put, Toyota holds a dominant position in the Japanese car industry.

Although Toyota and four other car companies are known as Japan’s five major automakers, the combined four still can’t match Toyota.

In terms of sales and employment, Toyota is number one in Japan.

This leads to a problem, that is, Toyota’s problem is the problem of the Japanese automotive industry.

Any move by Toyota affects the whole industry.

Before the fraudulent behavior was exposed, Toyota’s pure profit for decades was around one trillion yen annually, with an overall profit margin of 9%.

The reason a manufacturing company can have such substantial profits is that Toyota, relying on its monopoly position, is very harsh on its subordinate parts suppliers and internal unions.

As long as Toyota doesn’t increase the purchase price or employee wages, the entire industry doesn’t raise parts suppliers’ prices or employees’ wages.

Such a wealthy and harsh Toyota Company holds 20 trillion yen in cash.

This cash is neither invested nor distributed as dividends, just held in Toyota’s hands.

Other companies have followed this practice of Toyota.

Thus, all major companies in Japan have developed the habit of holding cash, leading to internal reserves reaching 500 trillion.

For big enterprises, having more cash on hand is certainly good. If a crisis strikes, there is ample cash to support reform or transformation.

But for the Japanese Government, this is nothing but a disaster.

Since the prospects of hydrogen energy vehicles are dim, the Japanese Government desperately hopes for Japanese automakers, led by Toyota, to enter the electric vehicle industry.

But Toyota remains unmoved, not investing heavily in related technologies.

So the Japanese Government has taken two measures.

The first measure is letting out a word that gasoline car sales will be banned after 2035.

The second measure is introducing Tesla to let domestic car companies see the future potential of new energy.

But neither measure worked well.

The ban on gasoline cars was never formally issued due to some lawmakers’ opposition.

And introduced Tesla, with its oversized vehicles, was not favored by the Japanese public, selling only about a thousand units annually.

So, after these two measures failed, the Japanese Government adopted another measure.

That is to grant Biya Mansion a license to enter the Japanese market and compete with other Japanese car companies.

This move was indeed effective; Biya Mansion quickly gained a foothold in the Japanese market and expanded its offline stores to a hundred locations.

Thus, Toyota conceded and announced its entry into the new energy market.

But their method of entry is to directly rebrand Biya Mansion’s three-electric technology onto their newly introduced new energy vehicles.

The three-electric technology in new energy vehicles is equivalent to the engine in traditional cars, regarded as core technology.

It means Toyota did not seriously invest research funds in new energy technologies but used its brand to rebrand Biya Mansion, then sold cars in Japan.

The Toyota brand is still popular in Japan; this rebranding not only reduced costs but also maintained good sales volume.

But this is not what the Japanese Government wanted.

The government hopes Toyota would have its own core technology, exporting electric cars to earn foreign exchange for Japan.

Now, with Toyota’s approach, it blatantly disregards the Japanese Government’s concerns.

Therefore, the Japanese Government couldn’t tolerate it anymore and dealt a heavy blow to Toyota.

The news about the five major car companies’ collective forgery is not something ordinary journalists could uncover.

The exposure of this matter is completely due to the Japanese Government directly sending people to raid these companies’ data centers, uncovering and exposing the forgery evidence.

"So, Toyota has devised a plan to bring in another foreign car company to show the government that Toyota intends and is capable of competing with foreign car companies in the new energy field."

"Why pick me when Huaxia has so many capable new energy car companies?" Chen Yiyang asked.

"Because you’re a new company, and Toyota is just starting in the new energy sector, I think we can progress together."

Toyota Osamu suddenly said something official-sounding to Chen Yiyang.

Upon interpreting, Chen Yiyang immediately understood the subtext of Toyota Osamu’s words.

The choice of Chen Yiyang to enter the Japanese market is precisely because Yiyang Automobile lacks the strength!

An automobile company like Yiyang Automobile, which hasn’t even designed a single car, naturally poses little threat to Toyota.

Toyota probably regrets it now; their initial dispute with the government led the Japanese Government to introduce Biya Mansion as a catalyst, resulting in too significant a contrast when comparing Biya Mansion’s cars with Toyota’s in the new energy field.

This made Toyota utterly lose face.

So after the Japanese Government actively exposed the forgery by the five major car companies, Toyota, naturally, does not want the Japanese Government to bring in another strong car competitor.

Under these circumstances, Yiyang Automobile became an excellent choice.

"I see," after listening to Toyota Osamu, Chen Yiyang started seriously considering.

Whether this matter is a hassle or an opportunity.