Many individuals rushed to criticize Toyota for being late to the EV sport, anticipating the Japanese automotive large would find yourself trailing behind the competitors. Nevertheless, gross sales figures inform a unique story. Not solely did Toyota handle to maintain its gross sales crown for the fourth yr in a row, however whole deliveries reached an all-time excessive.
Out of a complete of 11,233,039 automobiles 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. Sure, it was a 325.2 % progress year-over-year however whenever you’re evaluating to a low baseline quantity, percentages might be deceiving.
| Electrical Autos | Hybrid Autos | Gentle-Hybrid Autos | Plug-In Hybrid Autos | Gas-Cell Autos | Whole Electrified | Whole Gross sales |
| 104,018 | 3,420,004 | 26,859 | 124,755 | 3,921 | 3,679,557 | 11,233,039 |
The fact is EVs accounted for simply 0.926 % of whole shipments throughout a record-breaking yr for Toyota and co. There are a bunch of electrical automobiles on the way in which for the “Past Zero” (bZ) lineup, however the firm estimates battery powered EVs will at all times stay a minority. Even after Toyota could have diversified its electrical lineup, battery EVs are estimated to account for simply 30 % of gross sales. In an interview for the Toyota Occasions journal, chairman Akio Toyoda mentioned:
“Irrespective of how a lot BEVs progress, I feel they may have a market share of 30%. That leaves the remaining 70% as HEVs, FCEVs, or hydrogen engines. I’ve little question that engine automobiles 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. As well as, the corporate believes artificial gas may be the ICE’s savior. Concomitantly, it is not giving up on hydrogen tech since an all-new Nexo with a next-gen gas cell has been confirmed for a 2025 launch.
The meteoric rise of Tesla should have Toyota involved, particularly for the reason that Mannequin Y was the world’s best-selling car in 2023. Nevertheless, there’s nonetheless time for Toyota to get its act collectively and develop EVs that attraction to prospects. There are already mumblings the European Union’s ban on automobiles that generate emissions may be delayed past 2035. If that occurs, that ought to relieve a number of the strain Toyota is dealing with. In the meantime, it is doing what it is aware of greatest – which is to promote a gazillion automobiles with various kinds of hybrid propulsion.
Some would possibly argue that Toyota is thrashing a useless horse with hydrogen automobiles. Certainly, which may find yourself being a cash pit. Nevertheless, the automotive juggernaut has the finances to afford to throw issues on the wall and see what sticks. The objective is to succeed in carbon neutrality throughout a automobile’s whole life cycle by 2050. Meaning web zero carbon emissions throughout operations, manufacturing, logistics, use, and recycling of a car.
The Volkswagen Group, Toyota’s essential rival, as soon as once more needed to accept second place in 2023 when whole deliveries rose by 12 % to 9.24 million. Nevertheless, the German automotive conglomerate offered way more EVs within the final 12 months than Toyota as shipments of zero-emission automobiles reached roughly 770,000 items, up by 35 % YoY. The share of electrical automobiles climbed to eight.Three %, a rise of 1.four % from the yr earlier than.