Toyota’s $35 billion investment will deliver a broad lineup of 30 models by 2030. EVs for every Segment.
Toyota may be late to the battery-powered electric vehicle game, but their strategy includes a complete portfolio of vehicles for every market segment.
While Toyota has seen its rivals reveal EV models at a quickening pace, they seem to have taken the “slow but sure” route, planning to invest $35 billion to build a full lineup of 30 battery-powered electric vehicles by 2030. Their goal is to increase global sales of electric vehicles by 3.5 million units a year by 2030.
While Toyota (and their luxury brand Lexus) have tiptoed into EV, their investment marks a significant milestone in the electric vehicle market. Toyota’s current electric vehicle sales are hybrid EVs that are powered by a combination of an internal combustion engine and battery-operated electric motors. Battery-only EVs make up only a fraction of its current sales.
Toyota’s strategy to address a rapidly changing market
Look around Coral Gables, the Beach, or Coconut Grove — Teslas (and other EVs) are everywhere. The electric vehicle revolution is here — but not for everyone. EVs are expensive, charging requirements factor into a buying decision, and it seems like today, the only EVs we hear about are sports cars and small SUVs (although there is a number of EVs available today and more on the way). Toyota’s strategy calls for a battery-powered vehicle lineup covering a wide range of use cases and lifestyles. An EV for everybody. From sub-compact to a supercar.
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda recently introduced an expanded bZ lineup, the first all-electric model from Toyota’s Lexus luxury subsidiary, high-performance sports cars, a pickup truck, a commercial van and an off-road-ready SUV. Toyota is expanding the bZ (Beyond Zero) brand. Joining the bZ4X SUV, which falls between the RAV4 and Venza in size, is a mid-size SUV. Also revealed was a mid-size sedan intended for first-time car shoppers, plus a family-friendly three-row SUV.
In addition to the new bZ-series vehicles and the first all-electric Lexus SUV, Toyota revealed a collection of battery-powered sports cars, compact vehicles intended for city driving, a commercial van, a pickup truck and an off-road-oriented Cruiser EV that resembles a smaller Land Cruiser.
Toyota says it will ultimately be the customer that dictates which EVs will be offered and the regions they will land in. “Toyota is committed to providing a diversified range of carbon-neutral options to meet whatever might be the needs and situations in every country and region,” Toyoda said in the presentation. “It is not us but local markets and our customers who decide which options to choose.” Only time will tell which of these 15 EVs (if any) will be seen on U.S. roads.
“We are living in a diversified world and in an era in which it is hard to predict the future. Therefore, it is difficult to make everyone happy with a one-size-fits-all option,” Akio Toyoda said. “That is why Toyota wants to prepare as many options as possible for our customers around the world.
