According to the head of the Japanese corporation, which is the most popular automaker, people should not be forced to buy electric cars.
Recently, Toyota Corporation calculated how many cars produced under its brands were sold on the global market in 2023. The cumulative result for last year was 11.23 million units, which is 7.2% more than in 2022 (of which Toyota and Lexus accounted for a total of 10.31 million units, 7.7% more). As a result, the manufacturer retained its place as the world leader in the number of new cars sold.
In the photo: Toyota bZ4X
At the same time, electric vehicles are in no hurry to catch up with vehicles with internal combustion engines. According to a Toyota report, sales of all-green vehicles (BEVs) in 2023 were only 104,018 units. (in 2022 the figure was less than 25 thousand units). That is, their share last year accounted for less than one percent (0.93%) of the total volume of corporation cars sold worldwide. By the way, Toyota sold less than 3 thousand “electric trains” in the domestic market last year.
It is not surprising that against this background the manufacturer is not ready to abandon the development, production and sale of cars with internal combustion engines. Toyota believes that many customers still have a need for such cars, and it is impossible to force them to buy electric cars (that is, “forcibly transfer”, simply without leaving customers a choice). Chairman of the Board Akio Toyoda stated this during a speech to corporate managers and senior executives.
The head of the corporation confirmed that Toyota has plans to develop a new generation of internal combustion engines; he had previously made a similar statement at the recent Tokyo Motor Show. There are no details yet about the project to create new internal combustion engines for the Japanese corporation's cars.
According to Akio Toyoda, the share of electric vehicles (BEVs) will never exceed the threshold of 30% of the market, regardless of technological advances . He believes that the remaining 70% will be shared between gasoline vehicles, hybrids (MHEV, HEV and PHEV) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEV). The head of the Japanese corporation did not mention diesel engines.
In the photo: Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid
It is worth noting that Toyota and Lexus previously planned to abandon sales of new cars with internal combustion engines by 2035. It is possible that this plan will be adjusted. At the same time, there are a number of brands intending to get rid of models with internal combustion engines even earlier — by the end of the current decade. This list includes, for example, Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Maserati, Mini, Opel, Volvo and others.
Mercedes-Benz previously noted that they plan to completely switch to electric vehicles in the Old Light by 2030, but only in those countries where market and infrastructure conditions allow it. Audi is scheduled to complete production of cars with internal combustion engines for 2032; BMW has not yet finally decided on a similar date. Volkswagen planned to switch to producing only electric vehicles in Europe from 2033. Let us recall that last year the German concern VW had to temporarily shut down several of its factories due to weak demand for “green” models.