Toyota has had unusual timing on the steady march toward electrified cars. The company has often done what its rivals have not. So far, it has paid off handsomely, leaving Toyota firmly in command as the world’s largest automaker. Yet the industry is left scratching its head whenever everyone else zigs and Toyota zags.
They may be in for more confusion. A new report says Toyota is about to dive deeper into electric vehicles (EVs) right as much of the industry is pulling back.
Japan’s Nikkei news service reports that Toyota “aims to have about 15 electric vehicle models of its own by 2027, up from five now, with a production base spanning Japan, China, the Americans, and Southeast Asia.”
Reuters notes, “Toyota declined to comment, saying the information was not announced by the company.”
Toyota Has Long Kept Its Own Rhythm
Toyota hasn’t followed the industry’s lead on electrification in the past. The company brought out its Prius hybrid in Japan in 1997 and worldwide in 2000. It was the first widely available hybrid, and along with the early Honda Insight, the vehicle that taught Americans the idea of hybrid technology.
There was no market for it, in other words, until Toyota built one.
And they did build one. In the fourth quarter of last year, 11.5% of the cars Americans bought were hybrids. Toyota sold 51% of those.
The company’s hybrids sell so well that buyers in some countries now face weeks-long waits to get one.
However, the company has moved into EVs slowly compared to most competitors. In the U.S., Toyota sells just one, the bZ4X. Its Lexus luxury brand sells another, the RZ. General Motors, by the end of the year, will have four in its Cadillac brand alone.
Toyota argues that it can build 90 hybrids with the same minerals it takes to make one EV, taking 90 purely gas-powered cars off the road instead of just one.
Moving Into EVs as Others Dial Back
That restraint helped Toyota outsell every other automaker on the planet. But the company does plan to get into EVs. It has to, or it risks getting left behind.
The epicenter of the global auto industry has shifted. China is now both the world’s largest car market and the world’s largest exporter of cars. The country is going electric faster than the rest of the world and building high-quality electric cars it now exports to most countries. The world’s number one EV builder, BYD, is Chinese and growing so fast that it may be the biggest threat to Toyota’s dominance.
With that future in mind, Nikkei says, Toyota is speeding up its EV plans.
Reuters reports, “In 2024, it sold almost 140,000 EVs globally, up by about a third from a year earlier. They accounted for less than 2% of its total global sales of over 10 million.” Toyota now plans to produce 1 million within two years.
New Toyota EVs could include a reborn Toyota C-HR, an electric small or midsize truck, and a small off-road-oriented SUV with styling reminiscent of the much-missed FJ Cruiser.
The news comes as some rivals have throttled back their own EV plans.
Over the past year, many automakers have dialed back their commitments to EVs. From Ford to Volvo, they’ve delayed plans for new electric cars. Ford long planned to be the first automaker to sell multiple electric pickups. It has since failed to sell as many F-150 Lightning electric trucks as estimated and delayed plans for a second battery-powered pickup.
Ram recently delayed its own planned electric truck.