That's the most recent of four headlines we've hoisted from the link-vault. In chronological order, From Inverse, July 1, 2023:
Why Toyota Can’t Give Up on the Prius and Hybrids Cars
Every other EV maker is busy releasing fully-electric EVs, but not Toyota.
From the Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2023
Toyota Chairman Says People Are Finally Seeing the Reality About EVs
Akio Toyoda’s comments come amid cooling U.S. demand and a price war with China
From Fortune via Yahoo Finance, December 28, 2023:
Toyota’s bet on hybrid cars seems to be paying off as it rides consumer skepticism of an all-EV future to maintain its lead as the world’s top selling automaker
And finally, the headliner from The Telegraph via Yahoo Finance, January 23, 2024:
Electric cars will never account for more than a third of the market and consumers should not be forced to buy them, the boss of Toyota has said.
Akio Toyoda, chairman of the world’s biggest carmaker by sales, said that electric vehicles (EVs) should not be developed to the exclusion of other technologies such as the hybrid and hydrogen-powered cars that his company has focused on.
Speaking to employees in a question and answer session, Mr Toyoda called for a “multi-pathway approach”, adding: “The enemy is CO2.”
He said he believed battery EVs will only secure a maximum of 30pc of the market – less than double their current share in the UK – with the remaining 70pc taken by fuel cell EVs, hybrids and hydrogen cars.
Mr Toyoda said: “Customers — not regulations or politics — should make that decision.”
Mr Toyoda argued that electric cars’ appeal is limited because one billion people in the world still live without electricity, while they are also expensive and need charging infrastructure to operate.
The chief executive, whose grandfather founded the car company, also pushed back against accusations that Toyota had fallen behind rivals in the development of EVs.
He insisted it was right that the car maker was focusing on alternative technologies, but admitted it was hard to “fight alone”.
The chairman also pointed to Toyota’s recent announcement that it was working on a new combustion engine, saying it was important to give engine factory workers a role in the green transition.
However, he speculated that banks may soon stop lending money to companies that continue to build fossil-fuel powered engines.
Touted for years by Toyoda, the “multi-pathway approach” argues that customers should be able to pick whatever car type fits their needs and that the shift to EVs will not be as rapid as some have predicted....
....MUCH MORE
Something to think about as Tesla reports tomorrow.
