Toyota is investing more than $35 billion in electric vehicles in an effort to stay in competition with rival major automakers in the race to greener automobiles.
Toyota aims to sell 3.5 million vehicles per year by the end of the decade, Chief Executive Officer Akio Toyoda said Tuesday during a briefing. The world's largest automaker will produce 30 electric vehicles by 2030, up from an initial goal of 15 EVs globally by 2025.
Toyota's current electric vehicle lineup is dominated by hybrid electric vehicles, which combine an internal combustion engine and battery-powered electric motors. Battery-only EVs currently account for a small portion of the company's revenue.
The Lexus luxury brand plays a significant role in the new proposal, with Toyota estimating that 1 million electric vehicles will be sold globally by 2030. Toyota's target is to have all Lexus sales in North America, Europe, and China to be powered by batteries by the end of this decade, and globally by 2035.
Toyota also intends to invest another 4 trillion yen on other types of electric vehicles, including hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and hydrogen-powered fuel-cell electric vehicles.
Despite being one of the trailblazers in hybrid vehicles, Toyota has been relatively sluggish to embrace battery-only electric vehicles in comparison to some of its biggest rivals, such as Ford and General Motors.
In the six months ended September, electric vehicles, including fuel cell and hybrid vehicles, accounted for approximately 30% of the company's sales. However, battery-powered electric vehicles accounted for a negligible portion of that, accounting for just 0.1% of overall sales.
Meanwhile, competition is becoming more intense. Volkswagen said just last week that it would double its funding for electric vehicles to $100 billion.
Volkswagen, which has long been nearly neck and neck with Toyota in terms of global sales, also stated that by the end of 2026, it hoped to have about a quarter of its global car sales be electric.
Rival Nissan announced last month that it will invest 2 trillion yen over the next five years to accelerate its product line's electrification. By 2030, it intends to introduce 23 new electrified vehicles, 15 of which will be totally electric.
"Rather than forecasting the future, we want to be prepared for any eventuality," Toyoda added. "We want to give our customers with a range of options until the road ahead becomes apparent."
According to reports, a top Toyota executive stated that the company does not wish to be perceived as an electric vehicle manufacturer, but rather as a carbon-neutral enterprise.
