The electric car is rapidly gaining ground. Chinese manufacturers predominate. But Toyota, the world’s largest car manufacturer, is almost nothing when it comes to plug-in cars. What regarding Toyota if the future belongs to the e-car?
Look, these are the three largest car manufacturers in the world: Toyota is number 1 with almost 10.5 million cars sold in 2022. The Volkswagen Group, with brands such as VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda, is second with 8.3 million cars. The South Korean Hyundai/Kia is third (6.8 million units sold).
How different does the list of the largest e-car manufacturers (fully electric plus plug-in hybrids) look. First here is the Chinese BYD with 1.85 million cars. Second is Tesla, which only makes fully electric cars, with 1.3 million cars and third is the Volkswagen group. That made 572,000 electric cars and more than 200,000 plug-in hybrids.
And Toyota? The search for Toyota is on the e-car list: we only find the Japanese company in the 23rd place. Toyota built less than 20,000 e-cars last year. That is even fewer than Tesla made in 2013.
In terms of e-cars, Toyota is almost non-existent
Toyota made its breakthrough in the 1970s with high-quality and attractively priced cars – the result of production methods that were very modern at the time. About 25 years ago, the Japanese company introduced its hybrids and was a leader in this for a while. But in e-cars, the concern is almost non-existent.
“Toyota has fallen behind,” concludes Rico Luman, an economist at ING specializing in transport, logistics and the automotive industry. “Toyota has mainly focused on hybrids and hydrogen. But the hydrogen car has disappeared from view. Toyota miscalculated.”
That realization has now also penetrated Toyota’s headquarters in Toyota City. At the end of last year, the group announced that it will build new production lines for the manufacture of e-cars. The only electric car that Toyota now makes comes from a production line for petrol and hybrid cars.
The car company wants to produce thirty different e-models by 2030. That production should take shape from 2027-2028. But isn’t that too late? The company has already missed the beginning of the e-market.
A third of new cars sold in Germany and England are already electric
In December last year, a third of new cars sold in Germany and England and a quarter of new cars in China were electric. Europe is considering banning the sale of new diesel and petrol cars from 2035 – a decision that will have an effect on motorists’ choices even earlier. Some experts believe that the vast majority of cars sold in Europe and China by 2030 will be electric cars.
In the US, the e-car is starting to catch on thanks to subsidies. And China, the world’s largest car market, has set a goal of half of its car fleet to consist of e-cars and plug-in hybrids by 2035. Then consider that Toyota has yet to start large-scale production of plug-in cars, that it has to invest billions in this and that it took Tesla nine years to reach a production of 1 million cars, and the conclusion is that Toyota has taken the helm much too quickly. overturned late.
There is also still a lot of uncertainty regarding plug-in cars
But maybe the damage isn’t too bad. The sale of plug-in cars has so far been very ‘subsidy-driven’, says Luman. In January of this year, global e-car sales were down by half from December 2022. The reason? In several countries, subsidies for the purchase of e-cars were reduced or abolished.
There are more uncertainties surrounding e-cars, says Luman. It is still unclear whether Europe will completely ban the petrol car by 2035. Germany, among others, is sputtering once morest it, as it turned out recently. It is doubtful whether the world has all the batteries needed to keep the fleet goinge’and, can produce. A lack of charging stations can slow down the demand for e-cars.
Outside of Europe and China, there are still plenty of countries where the electrification of the vehicle fleet has not yet, or barely, started. In those countries, Toyota can still make an impression with its economical ‘ordinary’ hybrids.
And finally, it is still uncertain when the e-car will be cheaper for the average user than a normal hybrid or a petrol car. If that happens soon, as some think, it might boost demand for e-cars enormously. If it takes years, for example because the prices of raw materials for batteries are rising sharply, it may take longer and the future demand for e-cars will partly depend on the level of subsidies.
Be that as it may, Toyota is in a pinch and will have to work on its e-plans. But even if it does, it is likely that the list of largest car sellers in 2030 will have a different leader than in 2022.
VW invests 180 billion in software and electric cars
Volkswagen will invest up to 180 billion euros in software and electric cars over the next five years. This means that almost 70 percent of all expenditure goes to electric vehicles and software. The largest European car manufacturer is thus further stepping up its battle with the American market leader Tesla in the field of electric vehicles. VW is particularly increasing its expenditure on the development and production of batteries. The company wants to set up six battery factories in Europe alone. The company also has plans to build a battery factory in Canada, the first outside Europe. VW is also spending more on securing raw materials for the production of electric cars. (AP)
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