As of: March 16, 2024, 3:10 p.m
By: Patrick Freiwah
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The world's largest manufacturer is only jumping on the electric car bandwagon to a limited extent.
Toyota doesn’t want to “waste money.”
The results of a study agree with this.
Toyota/Munich - While numerous car manufacturers are focusing on e-mobility and developing more and more electric cars, the strategy of the world's largest manufacturer headquartered in the city of the same name looks different: Toyota will only have a single pure electric model on the market in 2024 But - and this is something we have in common with BMW - we are generally open to technology.
In an interview, the North American manager of the Japanese car company commented on why the industrial giant from Asia will continue to pursue a multi-track approach in the future and continue to offer vehicles with combustion engines.
Toyota: Better to pay fines than meet e-car targets
Toyota CEO Tetsuo Ogawa tells
Automotive News
: “We are looking at what customer demand is for electric cars and at the moment it is not justified to shift more capacity in this direction.”
As a result, car manufacturers like Toyota face fines in some places if the politically set targets for pollutant emissions are not met.
By 2030, for example, the USA wants to legally enforce a proportion of electric cars of at least 50 percent in new cars.
If manufacturers do not implement this, they will have to spend money on emissions certificates.
This suits companies like Tesla: the electric car manufacturer already makes a lot of money from the sale of certificates because the vehicles do not emit any CO₂ emissions during ongoing operation.
Toyota off-road vehicle in Düsseldorf: For the world's largest car manufacturer, e-mobility plays a subordinate role (symbolic image).
© IMAGO / Pond5 Images
Toyota doesn’t want to “waste investments” with electric cars
If Ogawa has his way, this path and thus the openness to technology is preferable for Toyota.
The manufacturer does not want to “waste any investments on electric cars,” explains the manager of the car giant.
Instead of 50 percent, Toyota is only planning 30 percent electrification of the model range in the USA and Canada.
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In the EU too, Toyota is making no move to massively focus its offering on electric cars, like Volkswagen.
With the Toyota bz4X SUV, the Japanese manufacturer only offers one electric vehicle.
In EU countries, a ban on the sale of new cars with gasoline or diesel engines is planned from 2035.
But there are political signs that this could change and the goals in the USA also appear to be in danger.
The most environmentally friendly car is a Toyota hybrid and not an electric car
Meanwhile, a study from the USA shows that a car with a combustion engine can actually be better than an electric car: A ranking of the most environmentally friendly models published by the American Council for Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) shows that no electric car will be on the market in 2024 top lies.
Rather, the Toyota Prius Prime SE is a plug-in hybrid in first place.
However, the other spots on the nonprofit's list are electric cars: Lexus RZ 300e, Mini Cooper SE, Nissan Leaf and Toyota bZ4X.
Mercedes SUV takes top spot on “List of Shame”
Overall, the institute comes to the conclusion that electric cars are ultimately the least environmentally harmful type of drive, but with the appropriate design they can also be a representative of the combustion engine category.
By the way, you won't find a Tesla, VW, Mercedes or even BMW in the list.
Meanwhile, the report also includes a “list of shame” – with models that are massively harmful to the environment.
These mainly include SUVs weighing several tons, which are also highly motorized and therefore emit enormous pollutants.
The inglorious top spot goes to the Mercedes-Benz AMG G63.
With the GMC Hummer EV there is also an electric SUV.
(PF)