Japanese Mobility Industry Trends and Toyota Motor Corporation Strategy
Authors:   The Korean-Japanese Economics & Management Association, Park Jeong-Gyu , Lee Hyung-Oh 
Published: December 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to look at trends in the Japanese mobility industry, analyze Toyota Motor’s mobility strategy, and then seek implications for the Korean government and companies. The reason for looking at Japan’s industrial trends is that not only has Japan made various efforts early on in this field, but Korea is similar to Japan in demographic structure, and so there are many things to refer to from Japan’s industrial trends. Also, looking at Toyota Motor’s case in relation to corporate strategy, we can find that the company not only clearly presents its strategy as a mobility company, but is actually implementing it by launching various products and services.
Research design, data, and methodology: As to the Japanese mobility industry trend, we first briefly look at the Japanese government’s policies, and then look at the trends by components of the mobility industry such as electric vehicles, autonomous driving, personal mobility, and flying cars. And regarding Toyota Motor’s mobility strategy, we look at electric vehicle strategies and development organizations, and look at strategies for each field, including automobiles, MaaS, personal mobility, and flying cars.
Results: As a result of analyzing trends in the Japanese mobility industry, the following points were confirmed. At first, the basic direction of mobility policy in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry was securing mobility services that provide new value, realizing carbon neutrality and reducing traffic accidents, and strengthening the industry’s international competitiveness. In the automobile industry, we find that the electrification of automobiles had a significant impact on the industrial structure, resulting in the weakening of the vertical division of labor and the advancement of the horizontal division of labor. In the mobility field, not only automobiles but also personal mobility plays an important role. The Japanese government was promoting deregulation in this field, and startups were playing a large role in the private sector. In addition, in the field of UAM, or flying cars, the government and the private sector were cooperating to improve various standards. In addition to industry trends, this study examined the strategy of Toyota Motor Corporation, and found that the company is advancing into each field that makes up the mobility industry and pursuing business in all directions. First, in the automobile sector, the company was a little late in moving to electric vehicles, but it set a new direction by announcing a large-scale electric vehicle investment plan in December 2021. In addition to investing in electric vehicles, the company was pursuing a transformation of its automobile business from hardware-centered to MaaS-centered, the key elements of which were MSPF and Autono-MaaS. The company also actively entered the personal mobility field and the UAM or flying car business.
Implications: This study presented the following implications for Korea through consideration of the Japanese mobility industry. First, there is a need to actively refer to Japanese policies when establishing mobility-related policies at the Korean government level. Second, Korean companies also need to actively utilize the experience of Japanese companies, especially in the service sector, when establishing mobility strategies. Thirdly, there is a need for companies in the two countries to jointly solve social problems of both countries and to explore the global market through cooperation, and to this end, the government’s efforts to revitalize exchanges between companies from both countries are needed.