For the sixth consecutive year, Toyota is the world’s best-selling automaker. However, electric vehicles played only a marginal role in defending its crown in the battle against the Volkswagen Group. The Japanese giant has been lagging in the electric race, although recent entries like the C-HR, Urban Cruiser, and Highlander show it is intensifying its efforts in an already crowded electric vehicle market.
Toyota’s chairman famously said in early 2024 that electric vehicles will never exceed 30 percent of global sales. Just a few months ago, Akio Toyoda stated there are still many places around the world where people cannot do without gas-fueled cars because charging infrastructure remains underdeveloped. But while he is a strong believer in combustion engines, the company’s former president and CEO says he now feels in the minority.
View Price on AmazonIn a candid interview with British publication Carwow, Akio Toyoda revealed he feels “very alone” in continuing to show appreciation for cars powered by combustion engines. At the same time, he is under the impression that everyone else is gravitating toward electric vehicles.
‘Everybody is shifting to electric vehicles, this is the biggest fear for me. Three or four years ago, I was the only one to say to the media that I love the smell, I love the sound and I love engines, and I want to keep the jobs for engine suppliers. But it seems to me that I’m the only one. I feel very alone.’
In 2026, it is fair to say Toyota still hasn’t embraced electric vehicles with the same enthusiasm it showed with hybrids following the revolution kick-started by the Prius in the late 1990s. Akio’s skepticism doesn’t stem only from his passion for combustion engines, though. Last year, he made a rough estimate that the 27 million hybrids the company had sold up to that point had a carbon footprint similar to that of nine million electric vehicles when factoring in battery and vehicle production.
Having set up Gazoo Racing (GR) as a standalone sub-brand, Toyota continues to support gas engines in performance applications. It is even working on a completely new turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder unit for future GR-branded products, including the long-awaited Celica revival. At the same time, it has engineered a new V8 for the GR GT hybrid supercar, and possibly other types of models as well.
Source: motor1.com
