The automotive industry is increasingly focusing on electric vehicles, particularly BEVs, against the backdrop of the European Commission’s Fit for 55 package proposal and the Biden administration’s (from January 2021) shift in US environmental policy, etc. From 2021 onwards, particularly in Europe and the US, investment in BEV production (including battery ) plans have been announced one after another. Furthermore, some car manufacturers are aiming to stop developing internal combustion engine vehicles and switch exclusively to BEVs. In addition to market leader Tesla, new BEV-specific manufacturers such as Rivian and Lucid are opening new plants, and it can be said that the automotive industry is now approaching a turning point in its history.
　However, despite the focus on electric vehicles, there is no doubt that the market will still be dominated by internal combustion engine vehicles in 2022. In addition to trends related to electric vehicles, which can be described as a next-generation industry, this report analyses the automobile and parts industries, particularly in Europe and the US, and the business trends/strategies of various manufacturers, ranging from internal combustion engine vehicles, which form the core of the conventional automobile industry. In addition to vehicle sales and production in some 90 countries and monthly sales figures for electric vehicles in 42 countries, this special report includes special features dedicated to electric vehicles and a ranking of global component supplier sales.

In the ASEAN countries and India, Japanese OEMs have secured a majority market share, and it is no exaggeration to say that they are the backyard for the Japanese automobile industry’s earnings. However, this situation has changed in recent years. The Vietnamese market has traditionally been dominated by Japanese OEMs such as Toyota, but Hyundai Motor Company has recently been competing with Toyota for the top market share by building its own plant and expanding sales of locally produced models. In other ASEAN countries, Japanese OEMs continue to dominate, but in Thailand, Chinese OEMs such as Great Wall and Shangqi are expanding their presence in the BEV market. Also in Asia, start-ups such as Taiwan’s Hon Hai, Vietnam’s VinFast and Singapore’s Grab are aiming for dominance in the region’s automotive industry as game changers, although their operations differ from vehicle contract development and production, BEV business and MaaS platforms with a focus on vehicle delivery. Meanwhile, looking at suppliers, Korean manufacturers such as LG, Samusung and SK have secured a large presence in the global battery market and are competing for supremacy with China’s CATL, the biggest player. In automotive infotainment systems, Taiwanese EMS companies such as Hon Hai and Wistron have become indispensable designers and manufacturers.
The report will include timely commentary on government policy changes affecting the dominance of the Japanese automobile industry in Asian countries and the movements of emerging companies from Asia that could be game changers.

The Japanese automobile industry is also undergoing major changes. Changes in technological aspects, such as tighter fuel consumption and emission regulations and the growing need for safety technologies such as automatic driving, and in addition to China, which has been growing ahead of the rest of the world, emerging markets in India, ASEAN and other Asian countries now account for a significant share of overall Japanese car sales. On the other hand, the Japanese market is expected to continue shrinking and there are concerns about the declining attractiveness of cars due to commoditisation, and the need to constantly work on optimising the scale of operations in a shrinking market. However, it is impossible for complete vehicle manufacturers and suppliers to fully address these challenges across all regions. In addition to their home country of Japan, they need to constantly optimise their business strategies by shading their operations between regions where they have a strong presence, such as North America, ASEAN, India, China and other parts of Asia, where the sales scale is large or the share of Japanese cars is high, and the rest of the world.