东京——丰田汽车计划从2027年开始在中国本土生产一款豪华电动运动型多用途车（SUV），并逐步减少对日本传统零部件供应商的依赖。这一举措引发了日本供应商的强烈不满，尤其是在当前日本汽车产业整体面临来自低成本中国竞争对手的巨大竞争压力的背景下。
TOKYO -- Toyota Motor's quiet move toward Chinese parts makers for a luxury electric sport utility vehicle it plans to build in China from 2027 has its traditional Japanese suppliers up in arms, coming at a time when every part of Japan's layered automobile industry is struggling to compete with low-cost Chinese rivals.
今年2月，一家专门生产汽车控制电缆的中国零部件制造商在新年贺词中表示，2025年对他们来说是非常重要的一年，部分原因就是他们成功获得了为丰田雷克萨斯项目供货的订单。
A Chinese automotive parts maker specializing in vehicle control cables said in a New Year's greeting this February that 2025 had been a very big year, thanks in part to securing orders for Toyota's Lexus project.
丰田计划于2027年秋季在中国开始生产这款雷克萨斯电动SUV，这也将使中国成为全球首个生产该车型的市场。这款车型将采用诸如“巨型铸造”（gigacasting）等先进电动汽车制造技术——这种技术能够将多个零部件集成到单一的铝制铸件中。
Toyota plans to begin Chinese production of a Lexus electric SUV in the autumn of 2027, making China the first market in the world to manufacture the model. The vehicle will incorporate such next-generation electric-vehicle technologies as gigacasting -- a manufacturing method that integrates multiple components into single aluminum castings.
然而，丰田的日本供应商们对此感到非常失望。“我们没有收到任何关于日本设备或技术会被用于这款中国产SUV的消息，”一位丰田供应商的高管表示。
Japanese suppliers of Toyota see little to rejoice about. "We haven't heard anything about Japanese equipment or technologies being used in the Chinese SUV," an executive at a Toyota supplier said.
至少在车身和电池相关零部件领域，日本企业显然已经失去了竞争优势。“由于与中国本土供应商的竞争，日本供应商几乎没有获得任何订单，”这位高管补充道。
At least in such areas as the vehicle's body and battery-related components, Japanese companies appear to have lost out. "As a result of competition with local Chinese suppliers, Japanese suppliers have not won much business," the supplier executive said.
其实早在之前就已有预警信号：丰田于2025年3月在中国推出的bZ3X SUV就被认为使用了大量中国制造的零部件，如今该车型已成为丰田在中国市场的核心产品之一。
There had been warning signs. Toyota's bZ3X SUV, which was released in China in March 2025 and has since grown into one of the company's core models there, is believed to use many Chinese-made components.
日本的汽车产业长期以来一直依赖于“系列公司制度”（keiretsu system），即汽车制造商处于产业链的顶端，并由众多关联供应商为其提供支持。当汽车制造商海外扩张时，这些供应商通常也会跟随其在当地建立生产基地。
Japan's auto industry has traditionally been built around the keiretsu system, a hierarchy in which automakers sat at the top and were supported by affiliated suppliers. When automakers expanded overseas, these suppliers often followed by establishing production facilities there.
丰田推行了一种“多路径”发展战略，根据当地市场需求提供多种类型的汽车产品，并致力于在本地开展研发与生产活动。随着最新款国产SUV的推出，这一本地化战略显然已经扩展到了豪华汽车领域。
Toyota has promoted a "multi-pathway" strategy, offering various vehicle types tailored to local needs while pursuing local development and production. With the latest China-made SUV, that localization push now clearly includes the luxury sector.
对丰田的供应商来说，更为令人沮丧的是丰田在5月份宣布取消Lexus LF-ZC电动轿车的研发计划。尽管丰田并未将这款新国产SUV视为LF-ZC的替代产品，但供应商们原本希望他们为某些先进技术（如“巨型铸造”技术）专门开发的零部件能够得到重新利用。
Even more discouraging for Toyota suppliers was the automaker's decision, revealed in May, to cancel development of the Lexus LF-ZC electric sedan. Although Toyota has not positioned the new China-built SUV as a successor to that car, suppliers had hoped that some of the equipment they developed specifically for technologies like gigacasting could be repurposed.
据普华永道战略咨询公司（Strategy&）的数据，中国汽车零部件制造商取得了显著进展：到2025年，它们已占据全球市场的14%，市场份额在过去十年里增长了约两倍；而中国以外的亚洲零部件供应商的市场份额则出现了下降。
One parts supplier selected for the LF-ZC project appears to have lost out on the China SUV project. Chinese automotive parts makers have made remarkable gains, accounting for 14% of the global market in 2025, roughly tripling their share over a decade, according to PwC strategy consultancy Strategy&. Asian suppliers outside China saw their market share decline over that span.
由于中国汽车制造商之间的激烈价格竞争，日本零部件供应商在合同争夺中处于劣势。中国零部件制造商在成本控制方面具有明显优势，因此丰田若想缩小与本土电动汽车竞争对手的价格差距，就必须选择从中国采购零部件。
Intense price competition brought on by Chinese automakers is one reason that Japanese suppliers are losing out on contracts. Chinese parts makers have become highly competitive on costs, and Toyota has little choice but to source locally if it hopes to narrow the price gap with Chinese EV rivals.
“我们在价格上根本无法与中国企业竞争，”一家日本零部件制造商的高管表示，“他们的产品质量也提升到了过去无法比拟的水平。”随着中国这个全球最大汽车市场的本地化进程加速以及竞争的加剧，零部件制造商们不得不重新审视自己的发展战略。丰田的供应商们正试图通过新技术来实现突破。
"We simply can't compete with Chinese companies on price," an executive at a Japanese parts maker said. "Their quality has also improved to a level that is incomparable to the past." As localization and competition intensify in China, the world's largest auto market, parts makers are being forced to rethink strategies. Toyota suppliers seek a breakthrough via new technologies.
爱信（Aisin）正在研发一种名为“Tekizai Body”的新技术，该技术会在汽车车身部分使用铝材。这种技术介于传统制造方法与“巨型铸造”技术之间，有望减少零部件数量和缺陷率，同时只需较低的初始投资成本。
Aisin is developing a concept it calls Tekizai Body, which uses aluminum in portions of the vehicle body. Positioned between conventional manufacturing methods and gigacasting, the technology is expected to reduce parts counts and defect rates while requiring only modest up-front investment.
印度市场的扩张为供应商们提供了另一个实现业务复苏的机会。丰田正在积极开拓印度市场的需求，计划于 2029 年上半年在印度西部的一家汽车工厂开始生产。
Indian expansion is another angle that suppliers could use to make a comeback. Toyota is aggressively pursuing demand in the South Asian country, including plans to begin production at a vehicle plant in western India in the first half of 2029.
许多丰田的供应商都将印度视为一个巨大的商机，因为该国的汽车零部件产业仍处于相对不发达的状态。零部件制造商 Futaba Industrial 将在印度新建一家工厂，预计该工厂将于 2029 年投入运营。
Many Toyota suppliers see India as a big opportunity because its local auto parts industry remains relatively underdeveloped. Parts maker Futaba Industrial will construct a new Indian plant slated to begin operations in 2029.