Many individuals rushed to criticize Toyota for being late to the EV sport, anticipating the Japanese automotive big would find yourself trailing behind the competitors. However, gross sales figures inform a special story. Not solely did Toyota handle to maintain its sales crown for the fourth year in a row, however complete deliveries reached an all-time excessive.
Out of a complete of 11,233,039 vehicles offered by Toyota and its subsidiaries, few of them did away with the inner combustion engine. Deliveries of battery electrical automobiles amounted to 104,018 items. Yes, it was a 325.2 p.c progress year-over-year however while you’re evaluating to a low baseline quantity, percentages could be deceiving.
| Electric Vehicles | Hybrid Vehicles | Mild-Hybrid Vehicles | Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles | Fuel-Cell Vehicles | Total Electrified | Total Sales |
| 104,018 | 3,420,004 | 26,859 | 124,755 | 3,921 | 3,679,557 | 11,233,039 |
The actuality is EVs accounted for simply 0.926 p.c of complete shipments throughout a record-breaking 12 months for Toyota and co. There are a bunch of electrical vehicles on the best way for the “Beyond Zero” (bZ) lineup, however the firm estimates battery powered EVs will at all times stay a minority. Even after Toyota can have diversified its electrical lineup, battery EVs are estimated to account for simply 30 p.c of gross sales. In an interview for the Toyota Times journal, chairman Akio Toyoda stated:
“No matter how much BEVs progress, I think they will have a market share of 30%. That leaves the remaining 70% as HEVs, FCEVs, or hydrogen engines. I have no doubt that engine vehicles will survive.”
Toyota is adamant the combustion engine can survive whilst automakers are striving to eradicate CO2 emissions. Experimental prototypes of the GR Yaris and GR Corolla have been examined with the turbocharged 1.6-liter, three-cylinder engine modified to run on hydrogen as a substitute of gasoline. In addition, the corporate believes artificial gas is also the ICE’s savior. Concomitantly, it isn’t giving up on hydrogen tech since an all-new Nexo with a next-gen fuel cell has been confirmed for a 2025 launch.
The meteoric rise of Tesla will need to have Toyota involved, particularly because the Model Y was the world’s best-selling vehicle in 2023. However, there’s nonetheless time for Toyota to get its act collectively and develop EVs that attraction to clients. There are already mumblings the European Union’s ban on vehicles that generate emissions might be delayed beyond 2035. If that occurs, that ought to relieve a few of the stress Toyota is dealing with. Meanwhile, it is doing what it is aware of greatest – which is to promote a gazillion vehicles with various kinds of hybrid propulsion.
Some may argue that Toyota is thrashing a useless horse with hydrogen vehicles. Indeed, that may find yourself being a cash pit. However, the automotive juggernaut has the funds to afford to throw issues on the wall and see what sticks. The objective is to achieve carbon neutrality throughout a automotive’s whole life cycle by 2050. That means web zero carbon emissions throughout operations, manufacturing, logistics, use, and recycling of a automobile.
The Volkswagen Group, Toyota’s foremost rival, as soon as once more needed to accept second place in 2023 when complete deliveries rose by 12 p.c to 9.24 million. However, the German automotive conglomerate offered much more EVs within the final 12 months than Toyota as shipments of zero-emission automobiles reached roughly 770,000 items, up by 35 p.c YoY. The share of electrical vehicles climbed to eight.3 p.c, a rise of 1.4 p.c from the 12 months earlier than.
