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Electric cars will never dominate market, says Toyota

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Electric cars will never dominate market, says Toyota

Japanese car giant insists appeal of EVs is limited, and denies it has fallen behind rivals

Matt Oliver 23 January 2024 • 2:30pm
 

Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda said electric vehicles would command 30pc of global market share at best Credit: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Electric cars will never account for more than a third of the market and consumers should not be forced to buy them, the boss of Toyota has said.

Akio Toyoda, chairman of the world’s biggest carmaker by sales, said that electric vehicles (EVs) should not be developed to the exclusion of other technologies such as the hybrid and hydrogen-powered cars that his company has focused on.

Speaking to employees in a question and answer session, Mr Toyoda called for a “multi-pathway approach”, adding: “The enemy is CO2.”

He said he believed battery EVs will only secure a maximum of 30pc of the market – less than double their current share in the UK – with the remaining 70pc taken by fuel cell EVs, hybrids and hydrogen cars.

Mr Toyoda said: “Customers — not regulations or politics — should make that decision.”

Mr Toyoda argued that electric cars’ appeal is limited because one billion people in the world still live without electricity, while they are also expensive and need charging infrastructure to operate.

The chief executive, whose grandfather founded the car company, also pushed back against accusations that Toyota had fallen behind rivals in the development of EVs.

He insisted it was right that the car maker was focusing on alternative technologies, but admitted it was hard to “fight alone”.

The chairman also pointed to Toyota’s recent announcement that it was working on a new combustion engine, saying it was important to give engine factory workers a role in the green transition.

However, he speculated that banks may soon stop lending money to companies that continue to build fossil-fuel powered engines.

Touted for years by Toyoda, the “multi-pathway approach” argues that customers should be able to pick whatever car type fits their needs and that the shift to EVs will not be as rapid as some have predicted.

In recent weeks, that strategy has been partially vindicated after Toyota revealed it had produced a record 9.2m vehicles in 2023 with one month of the year still to go. The annual total is expected to exceed 10m.

At the same time, sales for January to November increased 7pc to 10.2m vehicles. 

Koji Sato, the car maker’s chief executive, last year promised Toyota would sell 1.5m battery EVs a year by 2026, and 3.5m by 2030.

Tesla, the world’s biggest EV producer on an annual basis, reported 1.8m deliveries last year. 

Mr Toyoda’s remarks come after electric car sales in both the UK and Europe slowed towards the end of 2023. 

Overall, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said the UK market share of electric cars went into reverse last year as consumers baulked at high prices and a lack of charge points.

EVs’ share of the overall new car market shrunk from 16.6pc in 2022 to 16.5pc in 2023. The latter compares with the 17.2pc share originally forecast by the SMMT.

The lobby group is now urging Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, to jump-start demand by slashing VAT on electric car purchases for three years in his next Budget, due on March 6. 

Ministers have so far avoided big stimulus measures on the demand side and are instead forcing manufacturers to ramp up the proportion of pure EVs they sell under the so-called zero emission vehicle mandate. 

Car makers will face fines if they fail to hit the targets, which take effect from this year. The figure for 2024 is 22pc, rising to 28pc in 2025, 52pc in 2028 and 80pc by 2030.

Toyota lobbied against the implementation of the policy, telling the Government it was “extremely concerned” by this year’s target, with which it would be unable to comply.

The company claimed the mandate would penalise it “both financially and in terms of its brand reputation”, according to documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws by the Fast Charge newsletter. 

Instead, Toyota lobbied for a one-year delay to the scheme and called for hybrids to be partly eligible. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/01/23/electric-cars-will-never-dominate-market-toyota/

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- Toyota is the ONLY LARGE AUTOMAKER who has STRONGLY OPPOSED TO FORCED EV TRANSITION

- the VOICE OF REASON is usually ATTACKED in the COPORATE MEDIA 

- The Telegraph is ONE OF THE FEW LARGE MEDIA OUTLETS that are HIGHLY CRITICAL of the ENTIRE EV AGENDA

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[Marty47]

If you look at Corolla hybrid and Prius and Corolla and camery compare to a pure ev , it's night and day , Toyota are legend to hold value , I had a camery hybrid in 2012 after fed up with gm cars that keep falling apart , non stop repair , I pay 23000$ back then drove 300000km sold it 9k in 2019 and I never put repairs beside breaks ..... no ev can beat that Toyota make car like tanks . 

[mrbb]

yes, toyota was right all along. Just look at the share prices of TM versus TSLA lately.  Akio Toyida was forced out of his CEO position due to pressure from shareholders (likely vocal shareholders with green agenda and FOMO) Luckily Akio is still the chairman and play advisory role to the new CEO.  The mad rush to EV hurts all the ICE car makers, of course with the help of gubermint

[vr6loco]

One aspect I think was also missed from the Japanese perspective, Japan does not have the capability to go all electric. They would need more nuclear generation along with a lot of upgrading to the existing systems.  Also, many jurisdictions around the world, electricity will cost more than gasoline, with lacking infrastructure. That's without the road taxes too.

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- IF TRUMP GETS ELECTED President of the United States of America {a MIGHTY BIG IF ?}, he WILL PUT A SIVER BULLET in the HEART of the EV INDUSTRY and ELON MUSK will TURN INTO A CRYBABY z173