For years, many people have believed that you had to buy a Japanese vehicle if you wanted a reliable car. In fact, taking into account breakdowns and faults reported by consumers, market studies consistently show that Japanese manufacturers rank highest in reliability.
Data from a recent report by Consumer Reports, which has been assessing vehicle reliability since 1936, shows a clear trend: Six out of the seven most reliable brands are Japanese.
The only exception is Mini, a British brand owned by BMW, which ranked higher than Acura, Honda, Subaru, and Mazda. Meanwhile, Toyota came in second place, and Lexus, also owned by Toyota, took the top spot. Notably, there was a significant gap between the brands’ scores. Mini and Mazda (third and seventh places, respectively) were separated by only four points. However, Toyota scored five points ahead of Mini, while Lexus outperformed Mini by eight points. This illustrates the considerable difference in reliability between these top two brands and those further down the list.
The kaizen philosophy, which Mazda often emphasizes, is a prime example of how the industry has reached this point. The essence of this approach is to implement small, continuous improvements rather than disruptive changes. Over time, these incremental adjustments can lead to the highest levels of perfection.
The Japanese commitment to perfectionism and attention to detail is exemplified by the takumi–skilled workers at Lexus who meticulously examine vehicles by hand to identify even the slightest imperfections. “It’s about how a car feels when you touch it, or the experience of sitting inside it–robots won’t be able to replicate that,” Katsuaki Suganuma, a takumi employee at Lexus, said in a 2019 interview.
However, this dedication to perfection and detail could be jeopardized by new car manufacturing methods. These emerging techniques, which focus on speed and efficiency rather than meticulous detail, risk undermining Toyota’s longstanding leadership in the industry. The rise of electric vehicles has fundamentally altered the vehicle production process.
Details Make the Difference
Toyota’s meticulous attention to detail has been a key factor in its rise to the top of the automobile market, aligning it with other Japanese companies that excel in reliability. However, that same attention to detail could potentially jeopardize its competitiveness.
Bloomberg reports that Caresoft Global, a reverse engineering company, has repurposed an old school in Japan to study how Tesla and Japanese companies like BYD manage to produce their products significantly faster and at much lower costs.
The answer lies in their foundational focus on electric and highly electrified vehicles. They’re the “digital natives” of the electric car industry, and this fresh perspective has enabled them to innovate in redesigning vehicle fundamentals.
For instance, Tesla has emphasized that much of its products are driven by software. By eliminating what the company considers non-essential features, it’s been able to create a more affordable vehicle with a unique identity. Similarly, BYD has developed cabins that are virtually free of buttons, featuring a rotating screen that sets them apart at first glance.
While Toyota uses steel, BYD and Tesla opt for plastic. And while traditional manufacturers require eight parts for their electric powertrains, BYD consolidates this into a single module.
However, the real advantage for these companies lies beneath the vehicle’s body. Caresoft Global suggests the “Toyota part #55330-42410” as an example. The number refers to a 20-pound steel bar known as a “cross-car beam.” This component supports the steering wheel and dashboard while also contributing to crash safety.
In contrast, Tesla and BYD have replaced this steel piece with a large plastic component. This substitution reduces the weight significantly (around 6 pounds) and lowers production and assembly costs.
The rationale for this change is straightforward: Assembling steel parts is more complex. Toyota traditionally used this steel rod to minimize vibrations from combustion engines. However, the Toyota bZ4X is fully electric and still incorporates the steel bar.
Meanwhile, Tesla and BYD don’t include this part in their electric vehicles. This is because they designed their production processes from the ground up for electric technology rather than adopting a combustion vehicle that runs on batteries.
This paradigm shift is considerable and poses challenges for traditional manufacturers. According to Goldman Sachs, the average electric car contains about 11,000 parts–two-thirds fewer than their gasoline counterparts. “Eighty percent of the technology is easy to replace, but the remaining 20% is the most important,” Toyota chief technology officer Hiroki Nakajima said at CES 2025.
Tesla and Chinese electric car manufacturers appear to be gaining a significant advantage with that “remaining 20%.” Meanwhile, companies like Toyota and Ford are looking for solutions. They’ve taken steps such as dismantling Tesla and BYD electric cars to understand their construction and identify areas for improvement.
One key advantage of Tesla and BYD is their efficient manufacturing processes. They’ve streamlined the production of large parts that were previously assembled separately, and much of the industry is adopting this approach. For instance, Reuters reports that Tesla can manufacture a Model Y in just 10 hours, while Volkswagen takes 30 hours to produce its ID.3.
In 2022, this manufacturing efficiency allowed Tesla to earn six times more profit per car sold than Toyota. While Toyota remains the world’s largest car manufacturer, it must strengthen its position in the electric vehicle market to avoid falling behind, especially in China–the largest market for electric cars–and in Europe, where the shift towards electrification is accelerating.
The simplicity of electric vehicles has enabled Tesla to automate production more effectively than many of its competitors. This has led the company to explore ways to streamline its vehicles further, resulting in fewer components. According to Caresoft Global, Tesla has opted to bolt its seats directly onto the battery pack, simplifying a process that’s much more complex in cars manufactured by other companies.
BYD has also simplified processes and eliminated unnecessary parts in its manufacturing approach. Unlike other companies, which often use eight separate components for their powertrains, BYD has created a single module that integrates both hardware and software.
This efficiency is achieved through vertical integration, given that BYD manufactures up to 40% of its own parts. This strategy saves the company significant time and money, ensuring that production is consistently on-demand and timely. Caresoft president Terry Woychowski told Bloomberg, “They make their own batteries. They make their motors. They make their own body. They make their front and rear fascia, their headlights, their door trim panels, their console. It’s a quantum jump. That’s not conducive to kaizen.”
This radical shift in work philosophy has allowed Tesla and Chinese manufacturers to outpace Japanese and Western automakers in production capabilities. For instance, companies like Foxconn, which have vast experience in producing technology products but aren’t traditionally involved in the automotive industry, are now exploring vehicle production.
Moreover, this advantage comes from starting with a clean slate. While established companies with decades of history struggle to retool their plants and face significant layoffs, Tesla and companies like BYD are focused on growing and expanding their facilities without overestimating demand.
Traditional manufacturers like Toyota possess years of automotive expertise, but the key challenge is how effectively they can leverage that knowledge. In this rapidly evolving landscape, it may be time to reconsider the relevance of the kaizen philosophy.
Image | Michael Marais
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