Top Automakers in Japan, India Lag in EV Transition: Report

A latest report from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) claimed that the top automobile companies in Japan and India are lagging behind in transitioning from a fossil-fuel-based regime to an Electric Vehicle (EV)-based market. 

The report evaluated automakers on their performance and strategy across a set of measures related to their current position in the market, technology performance, and strategic vision for future decarbonization. 

The ICCT independently gathered and analyzed data for six markets: China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, and the United States. The 20 manufacturers ICCT examined in its rating account for 89% of sales within these six markets and 65% of light-duty vehicle sales globally. 

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The report tried to explore how effectively the world’s 20 largest auto manufacturers are transitioning to zero-tailpipe-emission vehicles. TATA is the solitary auto manufacturer headquartered in India on the list. ICCT attributed Tata’s poor score to its low ZEV (zero-emission vehicle) sales, limited variety of ZEV products, and lack of a strong strategic vision. On the other hand, the auto manufacturer performed better on metrics such as energy consumption of ZEVs and deployment of battery recycling and repurposing. 

“Manufacturers headquartered in Japan and India must work to catch up to competitors in the transition. All five manufacturers headquartered in Japan and Tata, headquartered in India, are at the bottom of our rating. To improve, they need to increase their EV sales, set public ZEV targets, and invest in ZEV,” the report said.

It also added, “It is the case, though, that in the absence of effective government policies, the domestic markets for EVs in Japan and India are anemic. However, these companies would have rated higher if they had announced stronger targets and investment plans for the ZEV transition.”

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The ICCT modeling indicates that nearly 100% of new light-duty vehicles sold in leading markets in 2035 must-have zero tailpipe emissions to put the transportation sector on a trajectory aligned to limit global warming to below 2 °C, as defined in the Paris Climate Agreement. 

The report’s ratings showed that BYD – the only legacy automaker to go all-electric is quickly catching up with Tesla, the rating’s leader. Tesla earned the highest overall rating. But while it’s the only large manufacturer producing only zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), it underperformed on some metrics, such as the variety of ZEV models it offers consumers. 

The report said that legacy automakers BMW and Volkswagen are showing they’re serious about the EV transition. They scored high marks in this year’s rating. However, ICCT’s rating also showed that of the 20 largest manufacturers globally by sales, six automakers are lagging behind their competitors. Of those, five are headquartered in Japan.

Another report released recently reiterated that India’s EV penetration is a laggard in CY 2022 when compared against other Asian countries. The percentage of EV penetration in the said year was a mere 1.1%, signficantly lower than the Asian average pegged at over 17 per cent. Currently, India is mainly dependent on imports to meet demand, but the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI ) scheme, provides that 50 GW of battery capa­city with advanced chemistry cells has to be built domestically in the country within the next two years. This could give major impetus to battery manufacturing in India. FAME has also given the sector a good push.