Japan wants one hidden standard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A wiring harness is the network of cables and connectors that carries power and data around a vehicle. Japanese suppliers reportedly produce around 70,000 harness variations for the seven brands involved, and Sato believes common specifications could lift productivity by more than tenfold while making automation and recycling easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also Read: Toyota’s boss says that unless something changes his company will not survive, and the rivals he wants to stop fighting are Japanese<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nThat is a lot of complexity hiding behind a dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sato has described the strategy as creating \u201careas of cooperation\u201d while protecting the \u201careas of competition\u201d that make each brand different. Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa has backed the idea, saying Japanese manufacturers should expect \u201ca lot more collaboration\u201d and suggesting a shared \u201cJAMA standard\u201d approved for use across certified suppliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China changed the timetable<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why the urgency now? China\u2019s car industry is moving at a pace that older manufacturing systems struggle to match. Around 650 new or refreshed vehicles reached the Chinese market in the first half of 2026, close to four every day or 25 each week, although the figure includes updates as well as entirely new models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pressure is no longer confined to China. In Australia, 175,151 China-built vehicles<\/a> were recorded through VFACTS in the first half of 2026, up 70.2% from a year earlier, while vehicles imported from Japan fell 22.8% to 144,430. Tesla and Polestar report separately through the Electric Vehicle Council, so the VFACTS figure does not capture every China-built delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe green upside is easy to miss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
At first glance, common wiring and steel specifications sound like a cost-cutting exercise. They are, but the environmental opportunity could be just as important. Fewer near-duplicate parts can simplify sorting, repair, reuse and recycling, and JAMA has placed circular-economy systems and battery reverse<\/a> supply chains among its seven priority challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe association is also developing shared logistics<\/a> built around round trips instead of one-way deliveries. Empty return journeys could carry parts or recovered materials for another company, creating a circular loop and reducing wasted truck capacity, replacing seven partly empty delivery routes with a network that talks to itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\nStill, standardization is not always green. Its environmental value will depend on whether the new specifications use less material, support disassembly and recycled content, and avoid shifting production toward more carbon-intensive routes. The accounting will matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Standardization has limits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This will not happen overnight. Industry reporting suggests the first common specifications could take one or two years to agree, after which manufacturers would still need to introduce them through future vehicle generations. Suppliers must retool, engineers must settle different safety requirements and each company must decide where cooperation ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is another catch. A common component can improve resilience when several certified suppliers make it, but it can create a wider bottleneck when too much production depends on one source. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\nAlso Read: BYD is about to push a production car past 500 km\/h, and ten years ago the company was only making batteries<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nThat is an inference from the plan, and it is why JAMA\u2019s focus on supplier certification, stable procurement and stronger supply chains matters as much as the standard itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Japanese](\"https:\/\/okdiario.com\/techy\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/toyota-boss-koji-sato-japan-automakers-cooperation-3.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Toyota executive Koji Sato warns that Japanese automakers must unite and share parts standards to survive rising global competition.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nJapanese cars are already global<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The contest is not Japan on one side and China on the other. Mazda\u2019s 6e and CX-6e electric vehicles were developed with Chongqing Changan Automobile, and both have been introduced for Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nissan has also said China will serve as a source of development speed, cost efficiency and exports<\/a>, with China-developed models being prepared for markets beyond the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThat makes Sato\u2019s proposal less like a defensive wall and more like a repair job on Japan\u2019s industrial foundation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japanese brands can continue using Chinese partnerships while reducing duplication at home. The challenge is to learn from China\u2019s speed without giving up the engineering identity that made brands such as Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Subaru valuable in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What drivers should watch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Most buyers will never inspect a wiring harness, but they may notice the results. Successful standardization could mean fewer supply delays, lower development costs, more predictable replacement-part availability and faster launches of electric cars and digital features<\/a>. None of those outcomes is guaranteed, yet they are the practical test of whether the cooperation works.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe next signals will be concrete ones, including agreed specifications for harnesses, steel and plastics, a wider group of certified suppliers, shared logistics data and measurable use of recovered materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\nAlso Read: Ayuso just confirmed how Madrid’s Metro line 11 will finally link Carabanchel to the city’s north<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nJapan cannot match 650 Chinese launches simply by trimming its parts catalog. But cutting duplicate work and material waste would give its automakers more room to compete where customers actually care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sato is not asking Japan\u2019s carmakers to compete less everywhere. He is asking them to stop competing over the industrial equivalent of seven different phone chargers and save their energy for the battery, software, safety and efficiency race. That may not guarantee survival, but standing still now looks like the riskier option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The industry update was published on JAMA<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s biggest automakers are considering cooperation on parts they once designed separately, a move that would have sounded unlikely only … <\/p>\n
The green upside is easy to miss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
At first glance, common wiring and steel specifications sound like a cost-cutting exercise. They are, but the environmental opportunity could be just as important. Fewer near-duplicate parts can simplify sorting, repair, reuse and recycling, and JAMA has placed circular-economy systems and battery reverse<\/a> supply chains among its seven priority challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The association is also developing shared logistics<\/a> built around round trips instead of one-way deliveries. Empty return journeys could carry parts or recovered materials for another company, creating a circular loop and reducing wasted truck capacity, replacing seven partly empty delivery routes with a network that talks to itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, standardization is not always green. Its environmental value will depend on whether the new specifications use less material, support disassembly and recycled content, and avoid shifting production toward more carbon-intensive routes. The accounting will matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This will not happen overnight. Industry reporting suggests the first common specifications could take one or two years to agree, after which manufacturers would still need to introduce them through future vehicle generations. Suppliers must retool, engineers must settle different safety requirements and each company must decide where cooperation ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is another catch. A common component can improve resilience when several certified suppliers make it, but it can create a wider bottleneck when too much production depends on one source. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That is an inference from the plan, and it is why JAMA\u2019s focus on supplier certification, stable procurement and stronger supply chains matters as much as the standard itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The contest is not Japan on one side and China on the other. Mazda\u2019s 6e and CX-6e electric vehicles were developed with Chongqing Changan Automobile, and both have been introduced for Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nissan has also said China will serve as a source of development speed, cost efficiency and exports<\/a>, with China-developed models being prepared for markets beyond the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That makes Sato\u2019s proposal less like a defensive wall and more like a repair job on Japan\u2019s industrial foundation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Japanese brands can continue using Chinese partnerships while reducing duplication at home. The challenge is to learn from China\u2019s speed without giving up the engineering identity that made brands such as Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Subaru valuable in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most buyers will never inspect a wiring harness, but they may notice the results. Successful standardization could mean fewer supply delays, lower development costs, more predictable replacement-part availability and faster launches of electric cars and digital features<\/a>. None of those outcomes is guaranteed, yet they are the practical test of whether the cooperation works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next signals will be concrete ones, including agreed specifications for harnesses, steel and plastics, a wider group of certified suppliers, shared logistics data and measurable use of recovered materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Japan cannot match 650 Chinese launches simply by trimming its parts catalog. But cutting duplicate work and material waste would give its automakers more room to compete where customers actually care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sato is not asking Japan\u2019s carmakers to compete less everywhere. He is asking them to stop competing over the industrial equivalent of seven different phone chargers and save their energy for the battery, software, safety and efficiency race. That may not guarantee survival, but standing still now looks like the riskier option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The industry update was published on JAMA<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Japan\u2019s biggest automakers are considering cooperation on parts they once designed separately, a move that would have sounded unlikely only … <\/p>\nStandardization has limits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Also Read: BYD is about to push a production car past 500 km\/h, and ten years ago the company was only making batteries<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Japanese cars are already global<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What drivers should watch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Also Read: Ayuso just confirmed how Madrid’s Metro line 11 will finally link Carabanchel to the city’s north<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n