If you put your mind to it, or do a bit of recalling, then you’d recollect that there aren’t only one or two but plenty of electric cars that are already running on roads from the house of Toyota.
Sub-brands such as Lexus 2023 LS and Lexus 2023 ES are just some of the dazzling brands that are already functioning in the EV space.
As far as the global car market is concerned, then a lot many are already familiar with the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder and its variants- such as the G eDrive 2WD Hybrid and the Urban Cruiser Hyryder G NeoDrive.
These are exciting and new offerings from the stable of a Japanese carmaker that is both suave and depedendable.
But that told, specifically speaking from an Indian perspective there aren’t really any all electric (read pure electric) offerings that one can recount or go back to the moment one’s quizzed about what the mega successful Japanese player has on offer.
Though, truth be told, it wasn’t that long ago in the past where Toyota displayed its first electric SUV, apparently meant for the Indian car marketspace: bZ4X. It was put on display or unveiled as they say at the 2023 bound AutoCar exposition, which much like the Berlin Auto show and the Geneva auto show draws large crowds each year.
But that was that; one didn’t really get to hear an awful lot about what might be Toyota’s next steps about its EV plans in India.
As a matter of fact, these are interesting times to be a major player in the electric car player as several among the global auto lords are lording over this space with thrill and action; post Tesla’s unceremonious exit from the Indian market, which was about sudden unlike its swift arrival, the likes of Volvo, Mercedes, Audi and Porsche have all had exciting offerings in the big space.
There are the likes of the Mercedes Benz EQS, the Audi e-Tron (launched in 2021) as also the now famous XC40 recharge from the house of the glorious Swedish luxurymaker Volvo that are already receiving more than a shout.
That told, purely from the perspective of generating a similar buzz in the EV market that some of its conventional fuel-powered cars have achieved and to much success, picture the Corolla, Prius, and Etios and not to forget, the Camry, it might just be the right time to dish out electric vehicles on the Indian roads.
What do you reckon?
But while its immediate plans may not be that well known, what is certain is that come 2026, Toyota is going to be big in the global EV car market. Not some rumor or factory grapevine, it’s quite certain that the Aichi Prefecture, Tokyo-headquartered organisation is keen to take up this said space by a storm.
And just how is that?
Targeting an ambitious sales figure of no fewer than 1.5 million units of electric vehicles by the year 2026, Toyota, one may not be totally wrong to say, is expected to outsmart the others around it.
But having ambitious targets is one thing, actually having a concerted plan of action is something quite other. How does Toyota plan to achieve its goal?
It is expected that the car maker will launch no fewer than 10 brand new EV car models in a period of time that’s just less than half a decade away from where we are right now.
To conclude, here’s what a leading news channel from India had to say when describing Toyota’s plans to maximise its efforts in the EV space:
Company’s top priority is to build an EV production platform from scratch while dealing with lingering pandemic measures, supply chain problems, and a lack of semiconductors. This is because Sato wants to lead the Japanese carmaker, which could make as many as 10.6 million cars this year, into a new age of electrification and smart vehicles.