Yoshihiro Nakata and Luca Ciferri on stage at the Automotive News Europe Congress. (Photo: Automotive News Europe)

Toyota Motor Europe President Yoshihiro Nakata, speaking at the Automotive News Europe Congress in Brussels, has called for the UK, Japan and Türkiye to receive equivalent recognition to EU producers under the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act. He also advocated a technology-neutral, multi-pathway approach to the EU’s Automotive Package, spanning battery electric, fuel cell, plug-in hybrid and renewable fuel technologies.

Nakata underlined Toyota Motor Europe’s manufacturing presence in the region: 877,000 cars and light commercial vehicles produced in 2025 represent 80% of European Toyota sales, spread across eight Toyota plants and five partner facilities, with 25,000 direct employees. The company described itself as effectively a European original equipment manufacturer, reflecting its principle of building and sourcing locally.

In a statement, Yoshihiro Nakata, President and Chief Executive Officer, Toyota Motor Europe, said: “We believe that selected critical partners—for instance the UK, Japan, and Türkiye—should be recognised in the same way as ‘Made in EU’ under the Industrial Accelerator Act. Europe’s resilience is built not only on local production, but also on working with partners to create regional scale and shared success. By working together we are all stronger.”

On decarbonisation technology, Nakata advocated renewable fuels as a key complement to electrification, capable of reducing carbon emissions from both new and existing vehicles and contributing to European energy resilience. He also called for strong implementation of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) to deliver on hydrogen refuelling commitments, particularly for heavy-duty transport.

Why this matters:

•Toyota’s call to include the UK, Japan and Turkey under the Industrial Accelerator Act’s “Made in EU” equivalence is the most commercially loaded element of this speech.It could fundamentally reshape rules of origin, subsidy eligibility and market access criteria, and the argument that doing so helps maintain global competitiveness will likely gain traction given the political sensitivity around automotive employment in France, Poland and the Czech Republic

•The renewable fuels push is gaining cross-industry momentum that the EU’s current legislative framework has not fully absorbed. With Toyota, BMW, Bosch, Repsol and others now publicly championing this as a viable route to decarbonisation, political pressure to revisit both the EU’s preference for battery-electric vehicles and its 2035 ICE phase-out may intensify significantly.

•Nakata describing Toyota Motor Europe as “a European OEM” is a deliberate positioning choice in a politically charged moment.Arguing that industrial policy should reward manufacturing commitment regardless of national origin sets up a regulatory test case. Its outcome could determine the terms on which every non-European OEM with significant regional production competes with local brands for support and incentives.