On February 15, 2024, the market value of Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation briefly surpassed that of South Korea's Samsung Electronics
According to data from QUICK Toyota's market value on February 15 was JPY55.1 trillion (US$80.4 billion), while Samsung's market value was JPY54.9116 trillion. This made Toyota the second-largest market capitalization company in Asia behind TSMC.
Nikkei reported that the development is due to issues and challenges the wider Samsung corporation faces, such as the downturn in the memory market, which dragged down other divisions. Samsung's semiconductor business is expected to return to profitability only in the second quarter of 2024, and its operating profit is not expected to return to the level of 2022 until 2025.
Toyota has been dealing with scandals involving its subsidiaries Daihatsu and Toyota Industries. They were which were found to have falsified inspection certification data.
Despite this, Toyota Group sold 11.23 million vehicles in 2023, a 7% increase over the previous year, The sales helped the company maintain its position as the top-selling automaker globally for the fourth consecutive year.
Toyota's growth trend is clear. Earnings forecasts for the 2023 fiscal year (April 2023 to March 2024) were revised upwards. Operating profit increased by JPY400 billion and net profit by JPY500 billion.
These revisions were mainly due to price increases accompanying the improvement in automotive functionality. This eased semiconductor shortages and the contribution of yen depreciation.
Although Toyota has been criticized for its slow transition to electrification, the company's omnidirectional strategy, which involves simultaneously developing various types of powertrain vehicles such as pure electric and hybrid vehicles to meet different regional demands, seems to align with current trends.
Research firm MarkLines said that in 2023, global sales of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) increased by 30% to 4.21 million units across 14 major countries including Europe, the US, China, and Japan. Combined sales of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) increased by 28% to 11.96 million units.
Although the sales volume of hybrid electric vehicles is still lower, the HEV growth rate has surpassed that of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. In 2022, the former grew by 14%, while the latter increased by 63%.
The support for hybrid electric vehicles indicates that several issues with pure electric vehicles still need to be addressed. These challenges included their relatively high prices, the gradual withdrawal or reduction of subsidies in several countries, insufficient charging infrastructure, long charging times, and issues of starting in cold weather and heavy snow.
The situation favors Toyota, which excels in hybrid electric vehicles. Bloomberg reported that Toyota CFO Yoichi Miyazaki said during the February 2024 financial results meeting that hybrid electric vehicles, which do not require charging infrastructure, are the most practical solution for current needs.
In 2023, Toyota sold 3.44 million hybrid electric vehicles, a 32% increase and the highest sales volume ever. It is expected to exceed 5 million units by 2025. Looking at the availability of charging infrastructure and power supply, Toyota Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada stated that hybrid electric vehicles will continue to play a leading role, with demand growth expected until 2035.
