Toyota president clearly doesn’t understand Tesla, its mission, or the restaurant industry

November 8, 2020 through Johnna crider

---

In his last call for results, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda had some thoughts on Tesla. He hesitated, but in the end he shared his opinion. “I hesitate to say this – Tesla’s business, if you want to use the analogy, is like a kitchen and a chef’s,” he said. “They haven’t created a real business in the real world yet. They are trying to exchange recipes. The chef says: “Our recipe will become the world standard in the future!” At Toyota, we have a real kitchen and a real chef too, and we are already creating the dishes. There are customers, very picky about what they like to eat, sitting in front of us and already eating our dishes.

Toyoda also pointed out that Toyota manufactures and sells a much higher volume and variety of cars than Tesla and refers to the 100 million Toyota vehicles on the road today. Taking another photo of Tesla, Toyoda called his company’s offerings a “full menu line,” which refers to Toyota’s mix of fossil-fuel, hybrid, battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles.

Comparing cars to the restaurant industry is laughable

My first job was to work as a banquet server and as a busser in a casino restaurant. From there, I worked a few other restaurant-related jobs including a pizza place in Atlanta. One thing about the restaurant industry is that everyone has their own tastes and food is an industry that will survive almost any type of disaster. During the pandemic, many mom and pop restaurants closed, but chains and franchises are thriving.

This is why comparing a dying industry with a flourishing industry is ridiculous. By dying I mean companies that specialize in selling fossil fuel products – companies like Toyota. Of course, there are customers who are picky about what they eat or consume, but the idea that customers only want what they have eaten, as her statement suggests, is ludicrous.

If Tesla’s business plan was similar to Toyota’s, its metaphor might make sense – but it isn’t. Tesla doesn’t even have the same values ​​or goals as Toyota.

What do Tesla and Toyota want?

Toyota Mission

According to Toyota’s customer service help site, Toyota’s mission statement is “Attract and reach customers with high value products and services and the most satisfying ownership experience in America. “And his vision statement is”To be America’s most successful and respected automotive company.“Its overall vision, according to its website, is to ‘lead the future mobility society, enriching lives around the world with the safest and most responsible ways of moving people. “

Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be the best, attracting customers and being the best performer. However, that’s not Tesla’s mission, and Toyoda compares Tesla to his own company without even considering Tesla’s values ​​or his own business plans. He basically judges Tesla as “not a real business” and uses the success of his own business for many decades to justify his reasoning. If Tesla were bankrupt, not selling any products, or just messing around, of course he would be right. But that’s not the case for Tesla.

Tesla Mission

Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. Tesla was founded to solve a problem. This problem contributes to the warming of our climate via the emissions of our vehicles on the roads. Tesla was founded by a group of engineers who believed that there was no need to compromise to drive electricity. They also believed that electric vehicles can be better, faster, and more fun to drive than ICE vehicles.

Elon Musk presented a blueprint (two of them, actually) to make consumer electric cars in the end and accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation and energy. Looking back 17 years since the inception of the company, one can see why Toyoda is taking photos on Tesla, but it is premature and basically irrelevant.

Yes, Tesla is still new to traditional car manufacturers. And yes, Tesla might not have as many vehicles on the road today as Toyota. It is true. Quantity, however, doesn’t always beat quality. Toyota can sell millions of cars every year, but Toyota’s cars don’t solve the problem Tesla is trying to solve. In fact, Toyota does make a few electric vehicles, but again, these electric vehicles are a response to the demand for electric vehicles, not an answer to the current problem.

Comparing a cat to an orange makes no sense

Let’s say Tesla is an orange and Toyota is a cat. Cats are cool, cute, and funny. Oranges are food – you can eat them, juice and drink them, or even throw one at someone. You could also start a chat, but that would be cruel. The point is, these two things are completely different and Toyoda looks at Tesla through the lens of only one of its products.

Tesla is not just an automobile manufacturer. Tesla, as Elon Musk has said a few times, is more of a bunch of tech startups, “many of which have little to no correlation with traditional auto companies. Toyota is a recognized automobile company. Tesla is not. Comparing the two is like comparing a cat to an orange and being mad at the orange for not purring when you rub it and thus deeming it priceless or not real because it doesn’t do what you expect it to be. ‘a cat.

Product comparisons

Let’s compare a few products between the two companies just to further explain what I mean. Toyota manufactures automobiles. Toyota also manufactures material handling equipment and textile machinery. Material handling equipment includes forklifts and other material handling equipment related to transporting, sorting goods and even storage. Textile machines refer to things like Sakichi Toyoda’s automatic loom, which he invented, as well as spinning machines and weaving machines.

They are great products and they have their own value, but they are not the same as Tesla products. The only products Toyota and Tesla have in common are electric vehicles. Tesla’s other products include batteries of different sizes and uses, solar panels, solar tiles, insurance, Tesla’s FSD chip, and an autopilot.

Although Tesla does not mine lithium to sell it in the market like a normal miner would, Tesla is also starting to mine lithium for its batteries. The point is, these are two very different companies with very different goals, and each has a different business plan.

To say that Tesla doesn’t have a “real business” because Tesla doesn’t do exactly the same thing as Toyota is illogical and shows that Toyoda didn’t do proper research on Tesla. Tesla does not trade recipes, as Toyoda claimed. Tesla has redesigned the entire meal plan with the goal of promoting sustainability.

---

Do you appreciate the originality of CleanTechnica? Consider becoming a CleanTechnica Member, Supporter or Ambassador – or Patreon Sponsor.

Sign up for our free daily newsletter or our weekly newsletter so you never miss a story.

Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or would like to nominate a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

---

Latest cleantech discussion episodes

---

Keywords: Akio Toyoda, Tesla, Toyota