Toyota hesitated — and caused a revolution within the Japanese auto group.
Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the founder, had to step down this year, paying for his reluctance to embrace electric vehicles as Tesla surged on the stock market and became the darling of auto-industry investors.
Toyoda on April 1 was succeeded by Koji Sato, who had been the boss of Lexus, Toyota’s premium brand.
Well before taking over in the front office, Sato had made clear that Toyota would convert to EVs and put an end to doubt on the subject. The group would also speed development of battery-powered vehicles.
“We want to listen to customers around the world and offer them various options,” but “in this multidirectional approach, 100%-electric vehicles are also an important option,” Sato said in February.
Toyota Creates Battery-Electric Factory Unit
“While making efforts to save energy (via hybrid vehicles), in the medium or long term, we will encourage a switch to electric vehicles,” the new CEO argued.
Four months after he made these promises, Toyota has unveiled its next-generation batteries, which will be accompanied by a full lineup of battery electric vehicles from 2026.
