- Toyota plans to boost EV production levels to 1 million units a year by 2027, around seven times higher than Toyota’s EV production levels in 2024, according to a report from Nikkei Asia.
- Globally, it also plans to boost the number of specific electric car models it offers to 15, significantly increasing its potential customer base.
- The strategy marks Toyota’s need to catch up with increasing levels of EV competition from manufacturers in Europe, North America, and China.
Toyota primed for significant EV growth in the run up to 2030
While Toyota’s fully-electric car portfolio stands at around five now, including cars such as the bZ4x and the China-only bZ3x, that number is set to rise to 15 by 2027. This number will be contributed to by the recently-revealed all-electric C-HR+, which will launch in select countries later this year before a fuller launch in 2026.
In 2024, Toyota (including its subsidiary Lexus) sold around 140,000 fully-electric cars, which highlights the strong ambitions from Toyota’s plans to start producing one million fully-electric cars in under three years time. However, with rival OEMs such as Volkswagen delivering a much more substantial 744,000-plus BEVs within the same period, the manufacturer is evidently behind the curve within the BEV market. These next few years will therefore be a crucial time for Toyota.
Likely in a direct response to Trump’s automotive tariffs, Nikkei also claims that the OEM will further diversify its electric car production locations – which will cover Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and the Americas. In the U.S. currently, the only fully-electric Toyota sold is the bZ4x, which is produced in Japan and therefore subject to the new additional 25% tariff – although Toyota has not responded with a price rise for the bZ4x (yet). The first Toyota EV to be produced in the U.S. is already in the works, with a three-row fully-electric SUV, not yet revealed, set to be built in the state of Kentucky from 2026.
