Japanese car maker Toyota is planning to ramp up its battery-electric offerings through its Lexus luxury brand, its incoming chief executive said on Monday.
The company will not, however, deviate from a long-held strategy of exploring other technologies, he said.
Koji Sato, who takes over as the head of the world’s largest car maker from April, said Toyota would accelerate its battery-electric offerings by focusing on the Lexus, reported Reuters.
Toyota has pushed back against critics who said the car maker has been too slow to embrace battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs).
“This is not a fast pivot towards battery EVs,” he said, adding that much of the problem stemmed from one of “communication” about Toyota’s strategy. He said more details about strategy would be made in April.
Last month, Toyota announced its C-HR model will be produced at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey (TMMT) in Sakarya. It will be Toyota’s first European plant to make plug-in hybrid vehicles, and the first to be equipped with a plug-in battery assembly line.
Capacity will be 75,000 units per year. Plug-in hybrid battery assembly will start in December 2023, said Toyota. Total investment for this project will be around €317 million, bringing the cumulative investment in TMMT to around €2.3 billion.
Photo: Toyota CEO Koji Sato said more details about battery strategy will be made in April
