A few years ago, Akio Toyoda famously said that electric cars weren’t going to be a big part of mainstream automotive anytime soon. He was lambasted by the media at all levels for this prescient statement.
I say prescient because, it turns out, he was right. Once government incentives shifted away from battery electrics, consumers for those electrics dried up. We’re currently seeing what can best be described as a “market correction” for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as sales plummet and sales for electrified options like hybrids jump.
The sales pitch for BEV options hinges on several things that, to be honest, don’t really affect most consumers’ pocketbooks directly. Sure, they can save on fuel and maintenance costs over the long term, but automotive consumers rarely purchase based on those long term metrics. They buy based on the monthly payment and factors unrelated to long-term costs.
Aside from the lack of incentives, the BEV market is also seeing shortages as key components are getting harder and harder to find. China, in particular, has soaked up most of the world’s supply of those things, thanks to its previous internal and current external push to market EVs. China’s incentives for domestic purchase have all but dried up as its government pushes for exporting those BEV models instead.
We’re currently seeing a market where Toyoda’s statement about electrics is coming around as a “Told you so” moment. Or, as Ricky from Trailer Park Boys would say, “Toadaso.”
Of all of the automakers right now, Toyota is one of the few that isn’t reeling from BEV development, production, and sales losses. Most of the company’s investments have been in hybrids, which is Toyota’s forte for sure, with the battery electric thing happening at a slower pace.
Toyota’s first BEV, a collaboration with Subaru as the bZ4X, is still being sold (now the bZ), but it had a very, very rocky start. Since then, Toyota has introduced other electric models, but is still mainly focused on hybrids. Most of Toyota’s research investment has not been into EV chassis design or model production, but has instead been in advanced battery designs and alternative materials.
The result of all of this is that, right now, Toyota’s profit margins versus losses (earnings before interest and taxes) are double the industry average and are only being surpassed by one other automaker: Suzuki. An automaker that also doesn’t focus on EVs, but which sells primarily in emerging markets with high sales volume and low tariffs.
Akio Toyoda recently once again surfaced with an interview in which he further pushed a non-EV agenda for the foreseeable and even made claims about what kinds of costs, environmental and otherwise, battery electrics have. His claims have been pulled wildly out of context by most publications who failed to note that he was speaking specifically of Japan’s situation.
But regardless, Akio’s getting his Toadaso moment.
