Today, as the world's most advanced transition to electrification accelerates, Toyota, a long-established automaker, seems to be faltering. Recently, Toyota CEO Tetsuo Ogawa in North America said in an interview with foreign media that he attracted widespread attention in the industry, and he bluntly said that "investing in the development of electric vehicles is a waste, and I prefer to buy carbon emission credits to cope with emission regulations." This attitude is undoubtedly conservative and even somewhat backward in China, one of the world's largest electric vehicle markets.
The Chinese market has a growing demand for electric vehicles, and it is also actively promoting the development of new energy vehicles to reduce environmental pollution and carbon emissions. Against this backdrop, Toyota's attitude is different. Although Toyota has a strong technology accumulation and market share in the traditional automotive field, their conservative strategy in the electric vehicle segment may cost them a head start.
Toyota's top executive believes that the current market demand is not enough to support a direct transition from internal combustion engines to pure electric vehicles, which may be based on their comprehensive consideration of the global market. However, the rapid development of the Chinese market has demonstrated the huge potential of electric vehicles.
In addition, although Toyota has a deep accumulation in the field of hybrid vehicles, the development trend of pure electric vehicles in China is already very obvious. Although hybrid vehicles have reduced carbon emissions to a certain extent, there is still a gap in their emission reduction effect compared with pure electric vehicles. The Chinese market's preference for pure electric vehicles is also rising, which is a signal that cannot be ignored for Toyota, which is sticking to the hybrid route.
In fact, Toyota's investment in the electric vehicle industry around the world shows that they are not completely averse to the development of electric vehicles. However, the Chinese market is very receptive to new technologies and trends, and if Toyota does not adjust its strategy in time, it may fall behind in this electric vehicle revolution, and in fact, such a lag has already occurred, and in 2023, Toyota's pure electric vehicle sales will be less than 1% of total sales, which is almost unimaginable in the Chinese market. Chinese consumers' enthusiasm and acceptance of electric vehicles are rising, in stark contrast to Toyota's judgment.