TOYOTA TO GO ELECTRIC IN CHINA FROM 2020
Carmaker will also launch pair of compact crossovers next year
TOYOTA Motor Corp will introduce electric vehicles (EV) in China from 2020 and also consider selling battery-powered vehicles developed by its local partners under the Japanese brand.
Toyota would also launch a pair of compact crossovers, the C-HR and IZOA, from the middle of next year, said the company .
A Toyota spokesman declined to say whether the C-HR and IZOA would be offered as hybrids, or if batteries and powertrains for the EV would be sourced locally.
Selling electric vehicles in China from 2020 will mark the return of Toyota into the batterypowered vehicles market after halting production of the RAV4 EV in 2014.
Toyota president Akio Toyoda said in September the company was a “little late” in the EV segment even as rival carmakers such as Volkswagen AG (VW) and Ford Motor Co push ahead with that technology.
Global carmakers are rushing in with new strategies for lowemission vehicles in China.
On Thursday, VW said it would invest more than €10 billion (RM49.95 billion) with its partners to make and develop a range of new-energy vehicles in China.
Last week, Ford said it would invest five billion yuan (RM3.14 billion) with its partner in China.
Toyota trails its rivals Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co in China, although all three carmakers saw sales rise this year, helped partly by a slump at rival Hyundai Motor Co.
Honda is challenging the leadership Nissan has held since 2009, on the success of the XR-V and Vezel compact crossovers.
Like other foreign carmakers in China, Toyota provides slightly different versions of the same vehicle to its local joint-venture partners to ensure they are equally supplied with the most popular models.
The C-HR will be available with partner Guangzhou Automobile Group Co, while the IZOA will be offered with FAW Group Corp.