Toyota Motor said Thursday it plans to use new production methods to make 5 million units, about half of its global auto sales, by 2020.
Toyota New Global Architecture, launched in 2012, is an attempt by the automaker to streamline operations by reducing the number of parts and modules used across different models. These efforts are expected to enable the automaker to reduce development time by more than 20%.
Executive Vice President Mitsuhisa Kato said Thursday that the time saved would help Toyota make better cars.
The newly adopted engine and transmission will help improve fuel economy by more than 25% and increasing performance by more than 15%, compared with current models. Fuel economy of hybrid vehicles will be improved by more than 15% by using lighter and more compact batteries and motors.
By the end of this fiscal year, it also plans to halve the cost of adapting plants and equipment when switching vehicle models. The introduction of the new production method will require fresh investment in plants, molds and other equipment to allow the automaker to share parts between models. Toyota will hold down investment in existing factories to keep earnings at around the current levels.
Toyota began working on the new production method after it was hit hard by the global financial crisis. The number of its vehicle models swelled to about 100 before the crisis, making development processes too long. Factories put too much emphasis on increasing vehicle numbers, and failed to curb fixed costs before the crisis hit.
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