TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), will introduce 10 new models powered by battery technology and aim to sell 1.5 million EVs per year by 2026. This is a major boost in a market that has been dominated by its rivals for a long time.
Senior executives announced that the world’s largest automaker in terms of sales will also create a new specialized unit to focus on next generation battery EVs. This was revealed at a briefing held Friday.
Toyota, which includes its Lexus luxury brand has only three battery models currently on the market. Last year, less than 25,000 were sold worldwide.
Investors and environmental groups have criticized Toyota for not embracing battery-powered cars quickly. They claim that it has lost ground with Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), and other companies that are more agile in capturing fast-growing demand.
The Japanese automaker countered that EVs were only one option and that gasoline-electric hybrids, such as the Prius, are a more realistic choice in some markets and for drivers.
“In the next few decades we will expand our range-up in battery electric category,” Koji Sato, Chief Executive, stated. This was his first job in the top position, but he added that hybrids would still be an important pillar.
By 2030, EVs will account for more than half the global vehicle production.
Toyota will need to meet this demand. It also stated that it would increase its production in the United States where the growth of EVs is faster than the overall market.
According to an S&P Global Mobility forecast, Toyota’s goal of selling 1.5 million BEVs per year by 2026 was 25% more than the 1.2 million units it was expecting to sell by then.
Yoshiaki Kawano (associate director at S&P Global Mobility) stated that there is a gap of 300,000. This can be viewed as a difference of approximately a year.
He said that it doesn’t seem impossible to achieve, but that the outcome would depend on which models Toyota released.
Toyota reported that U.S. sales dropped by almost 9% in the first quarter. General Motors Co. (GM.N) experienced an 18% increase in sales due to increased demand from commercial and fleet customers for EVs.
According to data from S&P Global Mobility, U.S. consumers are switching to electric vehicles mainly from Toyota Motor Co (7267.T), which was revealed in November by data from S&P Global Mobility.
“Now that it’s time to make the next big innovation leap, Toyota is falling behind, and more and more people in the U.S. understand that,” East Peterson Trujillo, a Clean Vehicles Campaigner with non-profit Public Citizen, stated in an interview before the briefing.
Reporting by Daniel Leussink, Maki Shiraki; Editing done by Edwina Gibbs & Clarence Fernandez
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Daniel Leussink
Thomson Reuters
Daniel Leussink is a Japanese correspondent. He has been covering Japan’s automobile industry since 2018, documenting how some of the largest automakers in the world navigate a transition from electric vehicles to unprecedented supply chain disruptions. Leussink joined Reuters in 2018 and has covered Japan’s economy, COVID-19, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the Bank of Japan’s ultra-easy monetary policy experiment.
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