Toyota didn't get caught up in the EV rush and now is winning

Toyota didn't get caught up in the EV rush and now is winning

WATCH NOW: Eamonn Holmes blasts ‘war on motorists’ as London council charges levy

GB NEWS
Jack Walters

By Jack Walters


Published: 10/02/2024

- 18:35

The Japanese car manufacturer defied changing automobile preferences to keep offering a wide array of powertrains

Toyota has managed to see off concern about refusing to move to electric vehicles and is now seeing the benefits of its pessimism.

The Japanese car manufacturer forecast it will have its most profitable year on record due to hybrid sales.


Earnings even hit $30.3billion in the fiscal year ending March.

The success comes after concern about Toyota’s refusal to mirror other manufacturers drive to electric vehicles.

Employees of Toyota Motor Corporation work during the assembly process at the company's Takaoka Plant

Employees of Toyota Motor Corporation work during the assembly process at the company's Takaoka Plant

GETTY

The manufacturers former CEO and current chairman Akio Toyoda told reporters the Japanese company would not follow the West's example of focusing excessively on battery electric vehicles.

Despite some criticisms, Toyota was left delighted by its recent margins.

Toyota executive vice president Yoichi Miyazaki said: “As a realistic solution, hybrids are still favoured by our customers.”

In a research note, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote: “We think the market is now rethinking the potential of hybrid products, which are a strength of Toyota.”

An employee works on an engine production line at a Ford factory on January 13, 2015 in Dagenham, England

An employee works on an engine production line at a Ford factory on January 13, 2015 in Dagenham, England

GETTY

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at the Heritage Foundation, added: “I want to congratulate Toyota, which was attacked for saying it was never going to go all-electric and it was going to continue to make the cars people wanted to buy.”

However, Toyota’s success comes in stark contrast to Ford.

Ford’s share price has fallen by around 10 per cent over the last year.

In contrast, Toyota's was up by around 51 percent.

Toyota cars are offered for sale at a car dealership

Toyota cars are offered for sale at a car dealership

GETTY

The differences come after Ford revealed it cannot sell enough electric vehicles to offset its costs.

It revealed it lost $47,000 on each electric car it sold last quarter.

Ford had harboured ambitions to bring its electric car division to earn profits of eight per cent by 2026.

However, Ford’s managing-director Jim Farley distanced himself from the targets earlier this week.

“I think that's clear. I don't think anybody believes that by 2026 we can bridge from here to 8 percent,” he told investors.

You may like