Japanese automakers are announcing plans to introduce the latest Chinese technologies into their models at the Auto Shanghai motor show in Shanghai, aiming to regain lost ground in China where electric vehicles (EVs) are rapidly becoming the norm.

Last week, Toyota Motor Corp announced its new bZ7 EV will be equipped with an operating system from Chinese company Huawei.

Toyota is developing the new model with an aim to launch it within a year. The automaker also unveiled a plan to appoint young Chinese people to chief engineer positions in charge of developing models for the Chinese market.

“To deliver cars people want in China, we need Chinese brains and hands involved in development,” said Li Hui, the general manager of Toyota China.

In China, new car sales by major Japanese automakers declined in 2024 from the previous year, with Toyota decreasing by 6.9%, Nissan Motor Co by 12.2% and Honda Motor Co by 30.9%.

According to the China Passenger Cars Association, the market share of Japanese automakers in China fell from 24.1% in 2020 to 13.7% in 2024.

There are several factors for the decline, such as a delay in developing and launching new energy vehicles such as EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles in China where competition is intense among major automakers like BYD and startup companies.

Additionally, Chinese people have spent less due to the economic downturn.

In order to regain lost ground in China, the world’s largest car sales market, Toyota and other Japanese automakers are adopting strategies to utilise Chinese talent and technologies.

Honda said it would adopt the artificial intelligence technology of Chinese tech startup DeepSeek to develop models for China, while it also unveiled a plan to codevelop driver assistance technology with another China-based startup company.

They plan to develop technology capable of operating the vehicle in heavily congested areas of Chinese cities, according to Honda.

Nissan announced it will make an additional research and development investment of 10 billion yuan in China by the end of 2026.