Toyota Motor is developing a new internal combustion engine engine. According to local reports, Akio Toyota recently reaffirmed plans for a "large-scale engine development project" in the presence of 200 employees.
This is in line with what was announced at the Tokyo Auto Salon at the beginning of this year, when he said, "By taking this opportunity, we are telling everyone that we will continue to produce engine vehicles. ”
Toyota sold more cars last year than ever before and remains the world's number one automaker. But in this year all sold 1123Of the 30.39 million vehicles, only 104018 are electric, and among the cars sold by companies such as Toyota and Lexus, battery electric vehicles are only 0926%。It can be said that Toyota is a giant of fuel vehicles and a dwarf among electric vehicles.
In response to such a result, Toyota proposed that there was still a need for an internal combustion engine and that a new internal combustion engine needed to be developed.
In response to questions from the outside world, Toyota's president said, "Regardless of technological development, the market share of battery electric vehicles will never exceed 30%. Gasoline, hybrid, fuel cell electric vehicles, etc. will account for the remaining 70%. ”
In addition, he has not mentioned diesel, saying that hydrogen-burning engines could be a potential solution. Toyota's president has expressed his opinion not only on decarbonization, but also on jobs.
The abrupt shift to battery-electric vehicles will create a transition problem for the 5.5 million people working in the automotive industry, who have spent their entire lives on engines, and some engine-related partners will even have times when banks do not lend money, so they must keep their internal combustion engines. ”
According to foreign media analysis, in the case that most car companies have announced new electric vehicle plans and plan to stop producing internal combustion engine vehicles in the next few years, Toyota believes that the situation is completely different, because it believes that battery electric vehicles are not the only solution to achieve carbon neutrality.
Toyota's president once again made it clear that "one billion people around the world still do not have access to electricity. The charging infrastructure is not yet ready, and Toyota is selling cars in the relevant regions, so it doesn't make sense to focus on electric vehicles. ”
In fact, Toyota's judgment is not unreasonable, at present, the global market is still the world of internal combustion engines, and pure electric vehicles do not have a large market share. Even in the U.S. market, there is a Tesla, and there are no other more powerful new power companies. It's just that the current Chinese auto market has embarked on the fast track of new energy vehicles. China's auto market is also disconnecting from the world auto market. As a result, many foreign car brands have also encountered obstacles in their development in China.