Japan’s Biggest Carmakers Consider Sharing Parts to Beat Chinese Rivals

Japan’s seven largest automakers have spent decades fighting each other for customers. Now, with Chinese competitors surging ahead, they’re considering something that would have been unthinkable not long ago: collaborating on the parts drivers never see. The idea is simple, identify components that don’t affect a car’s feel or look, standardize them across brands, and let suppliers produce them in massive volumes.

That could cut costs, free up cash for new technology, and help lower sticker prices. The push comes from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, now chaired by former Toyota CEO Koji Sato, who says the industry is in a “period of transition” and needs to evolve together.

S. automakers do the same? Dave Andrea, who spent more than 30 years studying the automotive supply chain, says Detroit could learn from Japan. ” The problem, he says, is a deep-seated culture of reinventing parts that don’t need reinventing. He recalls an engineer who designed a new suspension for a vehicle that didn’t need one, just because the budget was there.

Those days, Andrea says, are over.

Analysts like Sam Abuelsamid agree that standardizing parts like wiper motors and window actuators, components that don’t make or break a brand’s identity, would save billions. Teardowns of Chinese cars by firms like Caresoft Global reveal how fast Chinese brands move by using off-the-shelf parts.

S. industry has tried similar efforts before, from SAE to AUTOSAR, with limited success. The biggest roadblock? Inertia. Legacy engineering teams, unique connectors, and a reluctance to share intellectual property keep automakers stuck in old habits. As Meghan MacDonald of the Vehicle Suppliers Association puts it, the key is identifying parts that don’t differentiate performance or appearance, but getting everyone to agree on that list remains the real challenge.