The automaker plans to keep selling combustion-powered cars for the time being.
Akio Toyoda says hybrid, hydrogen, and gasoline powertrains will cover 70% of the market.
The executive also says that abandoning combustion power could lead to job losses in the automotive industry.
Toyota is often criticized for being late to the EV party, having only one fully electric model to offer its North American Customers, and it doesn’t seem the company is willing to change that.
Indeed, the automaker’s chairman and former CEO, Akio Toyoda, said in a recent speech that Toyota will push forward with a new major engine project, confirming comments he had made earlier stating that the company will keep developing new internal combustion engines.
This is surprising since almost every other player in the automotive industry has announced its intention to either focus its efforts on electric vehicles or abandon combustion power entirely by the middle of the next decade.
Furthermore, the executive believes battery electric vehicles will only ever reach a market share of 30%, leaving 70% to be occupied by other types of vehicles, such as traditional combustion-powered models, hybrids, and those equipped with a fuel cell hydrogen powertrain.
In addition, hydrogen-burning engines, a technology recently tested by Toyota in a Corolla race car, were mentioned as another avenue the automaker might want to explore in the coming years.
According to Mr. Toyoda, one of the main limiting factors that will prevent EVs from becoming the only solution to achieve carbon neutrality in the automotive industry is the lack of charging infrastructure, especially in developing countries.
Indeed, he reminded the corporate managers present at his speech that there are still a billion people who don’t have access to electricity around the world, and most of them live in regions where Toyota enjoys enviable popularity, such as Africa and the Middle East.
Considering this, it is easy to understand why Toyota doesn’t want to go all-in on electric vehicles and prefers a more diversified approach instead.
Another reason cited by the executive is that switching entirely to EVs could result in significant job losses in the automotive industry, both within the company and on the supplier side. Speaking of suppliers, Toyoda claimed many of them who specialize in building engine parts are already finding it difficult to get banks to lend them money due to EVs being percieved by many as the only way forward.
It will be interesting to see if Toyota is making the right call by keeping combustion power around as long as possible or if it’s on the way to losing its title of world’s largest automobile manufacturer instead.
Source: Motor1.com
