Toyota has tried to stay away from fully electric vehicles, taking the hybrid path instead. However, the carmaker has now announced that it will be launching nine new fully-electric vehicles in Europe by 2026. These nine electric vehicles will be a mix of the Toyota brand itself and its luxury arm, Lexus.
New Toyota EV launches in Europe — More details
The company plans to start with three EV launches under the Toyota name — bZ4X, Urban Cruiser and C-HR+ in 2025, followed by three more next year. Under the Lexus brand, the company will launch the new RZ SUV. Overall, by the end of 2026, there will be nine full-electric vehicles on sale.
Toyota, as mentioned earlier, has been cautious with EVs, which has also helped the company when EV sales saw a slump globally. Instead, the company saw its demand grow for its hybrid portfolio, including the US, one of Toyota’s biggest markets.
Toyota will take a mixed approach to meet carbon neutrality by tailoring specific solutions to its market. For example, Europe is a big market for EVs, and thus the plan to launch new electric vehicles makes sense, while for South Africa, hybrids make sense as the EV penetration is low.
Toyota EV in India
Toyota currently has no pure electric offering in India, however, it has multiple hybrids on offer such as the Hyryder, Hycross, and the Camry. The former two are shared with Maruti Suzuki. Now, with Maruti Suzuki entering the all-electric space with the eVitara, Toyota will soon have an EV on offer here. So far, hybrids have been doing well for both, Toyota and Maruti Suzuki.
