Akio Toyoda: Electric Vehicles Will Never Pass One-Third of New Vehicle Sales
The Toyota chairman doesn’t think that electric vehicles should be forced on consumers, noting that other clean energies are needed as well.
It wasn’t too terribly long ago – last fall, in fact – that Toyota announced ambitious plans pertaining to electric vehicles, following years of opposition to that particular segment. It’s no secret that company’s chairman – Akio Toyota – has never been a huge fan of pure EVs, instead choosing to focus on hybrids and ICE models, using plug-in hybrids as a stepping stone of sorts – but on the same token, Toyota also revealed a slew of new EVs recently, then followed that up with plans to significantly ramp up production of those models – to the point where it planed to reach 3.5 million units of annual production by 2030. Now, however, Toyoda seems to have soured on that idea once again, according to Yahoo Finance.
During a recent employee Q&A session, Toyoda reportedly said that he believes electric vehicles will never account for more than one-third of overall new vehicle market share on a global scale, while the rest will continue to be dominated by hybrids, fuel cell, and hydrogen-powered vehicles. He argued that the appeal of EVs is simply too limited given the fact that many people across the globe still don’t have access to electricity for basic needs – let alone the ability to charge their vehicles.
Perhaps more interestingly, Toyoda also noted that he doesn’t believe governments should force EVs on citizens. “Customers – not regulations or politics – should make that decision,” he said, but the chairman also pushed back against notions that Toyota was simply lagging behind the competition in terms of developing and launching new EVs, too. Rather, he noted that the automaker is utilizing a “multi-pathway approach” to taking on what he called “the enemy” that is CO2.
These comments will certainly come as shocking to some, but Toyoda has always been a bit of a detractor when it comes to pure electric vehicles, in spite of the company’s rather large financial commitment to them. The chairman has long pushed hybrids, plug-in hybrids, fuel cell, and hydrogen-powered vehicles as suitable alternatives to that type of tech, ones that can also help reduce CO2 emissions without strapping buyers with the types of limitations that EVs currently present.
Regardless of these comments, it stands to reason that Toyota will continue to execute its EV plan in the coming years, particularly since it’s Koji Sato – Toyota CEO – that’s now calling the shots. However, these comments are still notable in a world where even though EV sales in the U.S. set a new record last year as consumers scooped up 1.2 million of them, demand did begin to cool as 2023 winded down. In fact, several automakers – including Ford – have since scaled back planned investments into electrification, as well as production plans of those models as a direct response to this lull, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Toyota follow suit.
Photos: Toyota
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