US
Toyota Motor Corp. may shift electric-vehicle production to the US if demand continues to grow, according to a top executive. The Japanese carmaker is joining peers in embracing the technology. According to Bob Carter, Executive Vice President for sales, Toyota, US, the company would consider production at an existing or new factory in the US if there is a sustained increase in consumers for battery-powered vehicles.
He added that Toyota has no current plans to invest in US EV production without specifying the sales threshold for this move. He also said that, industrywide supply-chain issues, including a shortage of lithium-ion batteries, needed to be resolved before Toyota could finalise the decision on building EVs in the US.
The company announced earlier this year that it will introduce two all-electric vehicles in the US starting in 2022 and it would include Toyota crossover called the bZ4X and an as-yet-unnamed Lexus model built on the same platform. The two vehicles will be made in Japan.
The Biden administration has encouraged the auto industry to sell more EVs as part of a broader environmental agenda to reduce carbon emissions and is urging automakers to push forward with their respective EV plans and expand EV product portfolio.
Toyota has set a modest goal for all-electric or fuel-cell-powered vehicles to make up 15% of total U.S. sales by 2030. The move to start sales of EVs marks a U-turn for Toyota as the carmaker withdrew from EVs in the US seven years ago when it stopped producing an all-electric version of its bestselling RAV4 crossover sport utility vehicle.
Source: HT Auto
Image Source: Google Images
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