Toyota Motor Corp. plans to launch 10 new battery-powered models and hopes to sell 1.5 million electric vehicles annually by 2026. The company is striving for rapid expansion in a market where it has long been outperformed by competitors.
Senior executives revealed plans for the company's new leadership team at a conference on Friday. The world's largest automaker by sales will also establish a new, specialized business to concentrate on next-generation battery EVs.
There are now only three battery-powered Toyota models available on the market, including the luxury Lexus brand, and fewer than 25,000 of those were sold globally in 2017.
Investors and environmental organizations have criticized Toyota for adopting battery-powered vehicles slowly, pointing out that it has lost market share to Tesla Inc. and other companies that have more nimbly met the rapidly expanding demand.
The Japanese manufacturer has responded that gasoline-electric hybrids, like its ground-breaking Prius, are a more practical option for some markets and drivers and that EVs are just one option for customers.
"In the next few years we will expand our line-up in the important battery electric category," Chief Executive Koji Sato told the briefing - his first in the top job - but added that hybrids would remain an important pillar.
By 2030, it is anticipated that EV production would account for more than half of all vehicle production globally.
Meeting that demand will be crucial for Toyota, which also announced it would raise production in the US, where EV sales are growing faster than the market as a whole.
Toyota revealed that first-quarter sales in the United States decreased by over 9%. General Motors Co., in contrast, experienced an 18% increase thanks to increased demand from fleet and commercial clients for EVs.
According to data from S&P Global Mobility released in November, the majority of electric car purchases made by American consumers are made by Toyota and Honda Motor Co.
"Now that it is time to make the next big innovative leap, Toyota is falling behind and more and more folks in the U.S. are starting to understand that," East Peterson-Trujillo, a clean vehicles campaigner with nonprofit Public Citizen, said in an interview ahead of the briefing.
(Source:www.theeconomictimes.com)
Senior executives revealed plans for the company's new leadership team at a conference on Friday. The world's largest automaker by sales will also establish a new, specialized business to concentrate on next-generation battery EVs.
There are now only three battery-powered Toyota models available on the market, including the luxury Lexus brand, and fewer than 25,000 of those were sold globally in 2017.
Investors and environmental organizations have criticized Toyota for adopting battery-powered vehicles slowly, pointing out that it has lost market share to Tesla Inc. and other companies that have more nimbly met the rapidly expanding demand.
The Japanese manufacturer has responded that gasoline-electric hybrids, like its ground-breaking Prius, are a more practical option for some markets and drivers and that EVs are just one option for customers.
"In the next few years we will expand our line-up in the important battery electric category," Chief Executive Koji Sato told the briefing - his first in the top job - but added that hybrids would remain an important pillar.
By 2030, it is anticipated that EV production would account for more than half of all vehicle production globally.
Meeting that demand will be crucial for Toyota, which also announced it would raise production in the US, where EV sales are growing faster than the market as a whole.
Toyota revealed that first-quarter sales in the United States decreased by over 9%. General Motors Co., in contrast, experienced an 18% increase thanks to increased demand from fleet and commercial clients for EVs.
According to data from S&P Global Mobility released in November, the majority of electric car purchases made by American consumers are made by Toyota and Honda Motor Co.
"Now that it is time to make the next big innovative leap, Toyota is falling behind and more and more folks in the U.S. are starting to understand that," East Peterson-Trujillo, a clean vehicles campaigner with nonprofit Public Citizen, said in an interview ahead of the briefing.
(Source:www.theeconomictimes.com)
