Toyota has finally reached its limit and unleashed its last trump card.

Faced with Toyota's trump card, BYD has little to do and can hardly defend against it.

With a new energy penetration rate of 47% and a 3.2% decline for Japanese brands, Toyota risks being too late if it doesn't act now.

According to the China Passenger Car Association, in May, the retail sales of passenger cars nationwide reached 1.71 million units, of which 910,000 were conventional fuel vehicles, down 23% year-on-year; while 804,000 were new energy vehicles, up 38.5% year-on-year and 18.7% month-on-month.

This trend of growth indicates that Chinese new energy vehicles are pushing back traditional fuel vehicles.

In terms of new energy penetration rate, the retail penetration rate has reached 47%, an increase of 14 percentage points from 33% in the same period last year, and the 50% mark is within reach; the wholesale penetration rate is 44.2%, also an increase of 10.2 percentage points from 34.0% in May 2023.

Month by month, the penetration rate has been increasing, with 32.8%, 35.8%, 41.6%, and 43.7% from January to April.

Wang Chuanfu's prediction that fuel vehicles would dominate the passenger car market seems to be coming true.

It is worth mentioning that in May, joint venture brands suffered a major defeat, with a year-on-year decline of 21%. Among them, Japanese brands saw the largest decline, reaching 3.2%, leading the list. German brands declined by 2%, and American brands by 1.4%.

In other words, the market share taken by Chinese new energy brands mainly comes from Japanese brands.

Therefore, Toyota, led by Japanese brands, is in a hurry and has unleashed its last trump card.

Does Toyota still have a trump card in terms of technology?

First, let's get to the conclusion. Technically, Toyota no longer has a trump card.

In terms of fuel vehicles, the technology has reached its limit, and it is difficult to make further technological breakthroughs. Toyota's technology has been fully demonstrated, and Toyota has no trump card;

In terms of new energy vehicles, Toyota's core technologies are all in cooperation with Chinese companies. The only thing left is the brand.

Therefore, whether it is the public, consumers, or automakers, they should completely break the myth of Toyota's technology, just as they have broken the expectation of rising house prices. When you uncover Toyota's so-called technological veil, you will find that Toyota's technology has no trump card.

Is hydrogen energy Toyota's trump card? Toyota has indeed accumulated a certain amount of technology in the field of hydrogen energy applications and applied for a large number of patents. However, with China and the United States, the two major automobile consumption markets, both betting on electrification, Toyota's hydrogen energy technology cannot demonstrate its technological advantages.

Unless China and the United States switch to using hydrogen energy as a driving source, Toyota's patent barriers (traps) in hydrogen energy technology are essentially worthless. Therefore, hydrogen energy technology is not a trump card and is directly eliminated.

Is solid-state battery Toyota's trump card? In 2023, a Japanese media outlet asked Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota, whether Toyota could surpass BYD with solid-state batteries. The question was ignored, and Akio Toyoda responded with a non-sequitur: Solid-state batteries are important, but software and battery management are also crucial.

The subtext is: Stop asking, don't force me to lie!

In contrast, many Chinese companies have made progress in solid-state batteries. For example, SAIC has already mass-produced semi-solid-state batteries, and the development and mass production of solid-state batteries are steadily advancing, as seen in the article "Major Breakthrough: SAIC Hits Two Birds with One Stone, Targeting the Weaknesses of BYD and CATL?"

Apart from failing to present a significant technological trump card, Toyota is also seeking cooperation with Chinese manufacturers to increase its technological appeal.

For example, in terms of batteries, motors, and electric control systems, Toyota cooperates with BYD; in batteries, Toyota cooperates with CATL; and in intelligent driving, Toyota cooperates with Huawei.

There are many automotive parts, but the most crucial ones, which count as core technologies and are also the most profitable, Toyota has chosen to cooperate with Chinese manufacturers.

If Toyota really had a trump card technology up its sleeve, would it keep it for breeding?

Behind the scenes, Toyota has unleashed its trump card

Just because Toyota doesn't have a trump card in terms of technology doesn't mean it doesn't have one on the secret front. Nowadays, Toyota's trump card on the secret front has been deployed.

Recently, Zuo Yanan, the former chairman of Jianghuai Automobile Group, said in an academic sharing session at a forum that it is unlikely for Tesla and BYD to overtake Toyota as the industry leader.

Zuo Yanan said that Toyota is one of the few companies in the world that can "play to the beat." They have 50 cards in their pocket and know when to play their trump card and when to play a small card. Unlike some companies that rush to launch products before they are mature, Toyota will choose the right time to strike.

Mr. Zuo is strengthening everyone's belief and impression of Toyota's number one position.

In addition, the chairman of a certain automobile company publicly advocated for "equal rights for oil and electricity" at the Chongqing Automobile Forum, essentially aiming to restore the glory of Toyota and Honda's fuel vehicles. Is this a message from the imperial army for you?!

Anyone who understands that new energy is a national strategy will not be obsessed with the traditional fuel era or Toyota and Honda. Instead of calling for policy changes, they should actively join the electric vehicle wave and promote the implementation of electric vehicle strategies and go global.

In the era of fuel vehicles, foreign brands harvested China; in the era of new energy vehicles, China is beating foreign brands to the ground. As the chairman of a state-owned enterprise, why are you so obsessed with fuel vehicles and hybrid vehicles?!

Furthermore, the chairman of a certain Chinese Automobile Blue Book Forum said that Chinese automobiles are too competitive, even extending their competition abroad, making it difficult to defeat Japanese and Korean automakers. He also mocked that new energy vehicles have larger fuel tanks than pure fuel vehicles. Is he trying to say that Chinese new energy vehicles have large fuel tanks and are therefore pseudo-new energy?

These are Toyota's trump cards on the secret front, with so-called experts, association chairmen, and chairmen of influential positions.

Through public opinion warfare, they aim to strengthen the public's unbeatable belief in Toyota, maintain the myth of Japanese technology's halo, and cheer for Toyota and Honda's products.

As the saying goes, open guns are easy to dodge, but hidden arrows are hard to defend against. How can BYD defend against such a secret front?

If Toyota really competes with technology, I believe BYD can win, and the chances of winning are high. But if it comes to competing on the secret front, Chinese automakers still have to call Toyota their master.