Japan's economy experienced negative growth, down 2% year-on-year. Was it Toyota's car fraud that caused it?

Japan's GDP is declining, can you believe it? The negative growth is due to Toyota's car fraud, can you believe it?

Japan recently released the preliminary GDP for the first quarter of 2024, which showed a year-on-year decrease of 2% after excluding price changes. Japanese media attributed the cause to Toyota's fraud.

How can Toyota, an automobile company, affect the economic development of Japan as a whole?

In many people's impressions, Toyota is the world's largest automaker, with annual sales of more than 10 million vehicles, and is a typical representative of the Japanese auto industry. But this is only the superficial glory. Behind it, Toyota is actually just a "counterfeiting fairy."

On December 20, 2023, Toyota Motor and its wholly-owned subsidiary Daihatsu Industries issued an announcement admitting 174 violations involving 64 models. Therefore, they will stop all car shipments and recall more than 1 million vehicles.

From a "craftsman" to a "master craftsman", Toyota's fraud can be said to have harmed the Japanese automobile industry, the Japanese manufacturing industry and even the entire Japanese economy.

Many people have overlooked a basic fact: although Japan's economic output ranks third in the world, it is still a small country in essence. Its economic development is actually supported by a few key industries, and automobiles are the most core economic sector among them.

The output value of the automobile industry accounts for 50% of Japan's entire manufacturing industry, and the total output value accounts for about 8% of Japan's GDP. It provides more than 5 million jobs in Japan, accounting for more than 8% of Japan's total employed population.

Moreover, this is only the direct contribution of the Japanese automobile industry. In fact, the Japanese automobile industry has a great impact on the consumption, transportation, construction, catering, tourism and even advertising of the entire Japanese economy. The reason is simple. When the automobile industry is booming, people in this industry can get high wages, and only with high wages will they consume.

Toyota is the leader of the Japanese auto industry. When it started to falsify production and stopped delivery, Japan's manufacturing industry would naturally decline significantly, dragging down the consumption of the entire Japanese economy. To put it bluntly, Japan is just an island country. The rise and fall of a large company or an industry may bring huge losses to the economic development of the entire country.

It is worth mentioning that this is only a short-term impact. Toyota is the number one manufacturer in the Japanese and global automobile markets. Toyota's fraud will not only affect its own reputation, but also the brand image of other Japanese automobile manufacturers, and even affect the credibility of other Japanese products overseas.

This is very evident in the Chinese automobile market.

In the past two years, Japanese automakers, represented by Toyota, have been repeatedly accused of data fraud, and consumer trust in Japanese products has plummeted. Chinese consumers no longer trust not only Japanese cars, but even Japanese electronic products.

So, why has Toyota, which has been a global leader for so many years, been involved in so many fraud scandals?

The reason is not difficult to understand. Toyota was indeed a world leader in the past, but today it relies on outdated technology to reap profits in the Chinese auto market with low configurations and high prices. Money is made too easily, so there is not much motivation to improve quality.

In addition, Toyota is the only major player in Japan, and has formed an offensive and defensive alliance with Honda, Nissan and other companies, which has led to extremely lax supervision of its product quality in Japan. Data and test fraud is not a very technical job, but if there is a lack of supervision, fraud will become rampant.

Of course, Toyota's drag on Japan's GDP goes beyond this.

It stands to reason that Japan is a global automotive industry powerhouse that has the most cutting-edge technology and should have a clear understanding of the global automotive industry's transition to new energy. But Toyota's approach is just the opposite. It still attacks electric vehicles from time to time.

The leader has become a stumbling block. Toyota is extremely large. If it does not transform, Japan's new energy vehicle industry will not be able to develop, and it can only watch China take the lead in the global new energy market. At present, new energy vehicles are not mainstream in the global automobile market, and the Japanese automobile industry will not suffer any fatal blow for the time being, but in the long run, Toyota may drag the Japanese automobile industry into the abyss.

In fact, the bad consequences have already appeared. In the first quarter of 2024, the sales of Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan in the Chinese market continued to decline. In the new energy market, Toyota is also lackluster, and no model has entered the mainstream market. In the tide of new energy, Japan has completely become a spectator.

China is the world's largest automobile market, with a market size far exceeding that of Japan. If Japanese automobile manufacturers suffer setbacks in the Chinese automobile market, it will become increasingly difficult for them, and the situation will eventually drag down the entire Japanese economy.

Although Toyota's sales are still high, its drag on the Japanese economy has become obvious. With the rise of China's new energy vehicle manufacturers, the decline of Japan's automobile industry will become a visible fact, and it is highly likely that the Japanese economy will sink as well.

Misfortunes sent by heaven can be forgiven, but misfortunes brought upon oneself cannot be forgiven. Who asked Toyota to commit fraud, especially at an important juncture in the transition from old to new oil-electric technology? If you don't reduce the price, who will?

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.