Toyota pours cold water over hot EV targets – report
A slowdown in demand for electric vehicles (EVs) globally appears to have triggered Toyota to walk back its targets.
Nikkei Asia reports Toyota’s forecast of 1.5 million EV sales annually by 2026, announced in April last year, has been cut by one third to one million annual sales.
The publication doesn’t cite a source for the revised targets, though it reports the decision was “prompted by the slowdown in the global EV market,” and that “Toyota has notified its parts suppliers of the decision.”
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Camera IconbZ4X Credit: CarExpert
However, news agency Reuters reports Toyota said in a statement that it had made no changes to its projection of 1.5 million annual EV sales by 2026, while also claiming “the figures were not targets but benchmarks for shareholders”.
According to Nikkei Asia’s report, Toyota will produce slightly more than 400,000 EVs in 2025 before increasing its output to one million the following year.
Regardless of which target is in place, and despite criticism of Toyota being slow to embrace EVs, the figures represent a significant increase on its current EV sales.
Last year, Toyota set a new automotive industry record by selling 11,233,039 vehicles across its namesake brand, the Lexus luxury brand, the Daihatsu small-car division and Hino truck arm.
Camera IconbZ3X Credit: CarExpert
However, EVs accounted for just 104,018 sales, or less than one per cent of the total, while hybrids – a technology which Toyota was an early adopter of – contributed 3.42 million sales.
Nikkei Asia reports Toyota sold approximately 80,000 EVs between January and July this year, though this rate of growth is unlikely to see the company reach its ambitious goals.
There could be another sales increase coming soon, though, given Toyota is soon expanding its lineup of EVs.
Its EV lineup is currently globally limited to the bZ4X but includes some market-specific models like China’s bZ3 sedan.
Upon announcing its 1.5 million sales goal last year, Toyota CEO Koji Sato said the carmaker was planning to launch 10 new EVs between now and 2026.
Camera IconSupplied Credit: CarExpert
While two of these models will be exclusive to China – likely the bZ3X SUV and bZ3C crossovers which were revealed in April – additional EVs include a US-built three-row SUV and a battery-powered ute.
In late 2021, Toyota unveiled 16 EV concepts and announced it was committed to investing 4 trillion yen ($42 billion) into battery-powered models and related technologies by the end of 2030.
Toyota is still targeting 3.5 million EV sales by 2030, almost double the 1.81 million sales industry leader Tesla notched in 2023.
MORE: Toyota launching 10 EVs by 2026, including a uteMORE: Toyota’s global dominance continues, new sales record set
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