Toyota and its supplier base plan to spend about Y1tn ($6.3bn) annually from 2028 to replace ageing production equipment across their manufacturing operations.
The investment will back the rollout of some 400,000 robots across the wider production network.
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Around 150,000 of the units are scheduled for installation within Toyota and Toyota Group facilities, alongside 250,000 robots across supplier sites.
Over time, the carmaker hopes to commercialise its robotics technologies by supplying other manufacturers and external industries, turning the factory upgrade into an independent business line.
The manufacturing programme underpins a phased automation strategy designed to integrate physical artificial intelligence and robotics with the Toyota Production System.
Toyota plans three automation stages: conventional robotics for repetitive tasks, synchronised end-to-end production and logistics, and collaborative environments where humans and robots work side by side.
Plant machinery, logistics, and supply chains will connect through an integrated Factory Control Platform.
Alongside the industrial overhaul, Toyota is expanding its digital vehicle architecture.
The carmaker plans to scale Arene, its proprietary software platform currently featured on the RAV4 and Lexus ES, to approximately 50 vehicle models covering ten million vehicles worldwide by 2030, with potential access extended to alliance partners.
Engineered to run applications across differing semiconductor generations, Arene is also undergoing development for deployment outside automotive applications, including in factories, robotics, infrastructure, and homes.
Unveiled at Toyota’s North American research centre, the broader roadmap also outlines 2028 milestones for vehicle technology.
These include introducing L2++ automated driving assistance on selected retail models using in-house end-to-end AI and real-world driving data, alongside the rollout of all-solid-state batteries in a vehicle by the end of that year.
Separately, Toyota Motor North America introduced a new mobility brand named Scion by Toyota earlier this week, unveiling its debut vehicle, the KEI-01 ultra-compact utility truck.
The model marked the North American entity’s entry into the commercial low-speed vehicle market.
Toyota Motor Corporation CTO Hiroki Nakajima said: “By bringing those strengths together with advances in AI, software and robotics, we aim to accelerate the development of smarter vehicles, more adaptable manufacturing and new mobility solutions that improve everyday life.”
