A new plan by Toyota to produce electric vehicle parts in India is being talked about as another sign that the prominent car company is willing to play catch up on battery electric vehicle design.
Reuters reports the facility will produce parts for the Indian market as well as the Japanese market and some other nations in the ASEAN.
Generally speaking, the new India investment is part of Toyota’s goal to reach a carbon neutral footprint by 2050.
However, along with a commitment of $70 billion to electrify new vehicles, it also signals part of Toyota’s acquiescence to the new market reality that fully electric vehicles will soon be a dominant model for production.
In the past, Akio Toyoda has been skeptical about electric vehicle production as in comments in December of 2020, where he noted that without clean electric energy sources, CO2 could get worse with EV production.
“The current business model of the car industry is going to collapse,” Toyota president Akio Toyoda warned, according to coverage by Sissi Cao at Observer.
Toyota has been a front-runner in hybrid design, and behind on EVs, in keeping with the idea that while the EV just switches power from gas to electricity, the hybrid actually saves by regeneration and the synergy between engine and battery motor.
Now, though, with the new BZ4X model, we’re seeing Toyota move toward EV production.
“The Toyota bZ4X may have a confusing name, but this SUV marks Toyota’s foray into the electric vehicle segment,” writes Eric Boman at MotorBiscuit. “This EV was built in collaboration between Toyota and Subaru, and it’s shaping up to be a fairly popular vehicle. While other brands like Tesla have been working out the kinks of EV technology, Toyota waited. So, although Toyota is a little late to the full-electric game, hopefully, the 2023 bZ4X is worth the wait.”
Look for more as Toyota anticipates the market of tomorrow.
