Toyota has been a deliberate player in the realm of electric vehicles, observing the frantic rush of the rest of the sector to pour in billions of dollars. Instead of hastily embracing EVs, the car manufacturer has stayed equally committed to hybrid and even hydrogen technologies, believing there are various avenues to mitigate overall emissions. With the deceleration in EV sales in 2023, dwindling demand, and the possibility of escalating interest rates, other automakers are beginning to comprehend the message Toyota has been advocating for years.
In a recent statement to reporters at the Japan Mobility Show, former Toyota CEO and current chairman Akio Toyoda remarked, “There are numerous approaches to scale the summit of achieving carbon neutrality,” as cited by the Wall Street Journal.
Electric vehicles currently carry a higher price tag compared to their gasoline or hybrid counterparts. When these increased costs are combined with challenges related to range and charging, set against the backdrop of an upcoming global economic downturn, consumer interest in purely electric vehicles has waned.
Toyota
Lee Chang-sil, chief financial officer of battery supplier LG Energy Solutions, remarked, “EV demand next year may fall short of expectations,” via Reuters.
GM, which heavily invested in its Ultium electric vehicle platform, recently revised down its 400,000 EV sales target by 2024 in pursuit of developing more financially successful electric cars. “We are taking immediate actions to boost the profitability of our EV lineup and adapt to the decelerating short-term growth,” stated GM CEO Mary Barra.
GM and Honda recently opted to part ways on affordable EVs, following an announcement of a development partnership over a year ago.
Toyota
Meanwhile, Toyota hasn’t wavered in its trust in hybrids, be it plug-in or otherwise. Jack Hollis, the head of North American sales at the company, recently highlighted the strong demand for the brand’s hybrids. Nevertheless, this doesn’t denote that Toyota is entirely forsaking EV investments. It introduced two EV concepts at the Japan Mobility Show this week, featuring a spiritual successor to the MR2, and it also revealed concepts for an electric Land Cruiser and a compact electric pickup. Therefore, Toyota is still deeply committed to electric cars; it simply believes that EVs form a part of the solution for a carbon-neutral future. Presently, the market seems to be providing evidence in support of this stance.
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