Toyota to re-enter electric vehicles in China and India
Carmaker will design its own model for the Chinese market
TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp will introduce electric vehicles (EVs) in China and India from 2020 as it accelerates a push into battery-powered autos amid rapidly tightening environmental regulations.
Japan’s biggest automaker would design its own EV for the Chinese market, and is also considering selling EVs developed by its local partners under its marque, the company’s head of China operations, Hiroji Onishi, said at a briefing at the Guangzhou auto show yesterday.
Toyota signed an agreement with Suzuki Motor Corp the same day for it to receive EVs from its smaller peer for the Indian market, according to a press release. Suzuki doesn’t currently sell an EV.
Selling EVs will mark the return of Toyota into the battery-powered market after halting production of the RAV4 EV in 2014. Toyota president Akio Toyoda said in September the company is a “little bit late” in pursuing EVs, even as rival automakers rush into the segment.
China plans to introduce a capand-trade policy linked to zero- and low-emission vehicles from 2019. India is targeting selling only electric cars by 2030.
“To respond comprehensively to the expanding demand for EVs in China, we are considering having our joint-venture partners provide us with EVs,” Onishi said.
“We will also continue to develop every aspect of what China defines as new-energy vehicles, including plug-in hybrids and fuelcell vehicles.”
To qualify for points under the Chinese proposal, vehicles need to be made locally. A Toyota spokeswoman declined to comment on where the EV and its parts will be produced.
The Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker said it would expand a feasibility study for selling its fuel-cell-powered Mirai sedan in China to include commercial vehicles like buses.
The company will also introduce a pair of compact crossovers, the C-HR and IZOA, from the middle of next year, a key segment of the world’s biggest auto market where Toyota currently offers no models.
The agreement with Suzuki has Toyota providing technical support while Suzuki produces the vehicles and supplies some to its bigger peer in India.
The pair will also conduct a study of activities aimed at popularising EVs in the country, which is set to become the world’s third-biggest car market by 2020.
China in particular has driven an EV rush. Daimler AG said at the Guangzhou motor show that it would produce its first electric car in the country in 2019.
Volkswagen AG said on Thursday at the event it would invest more € than 10bil (US$12bil) with its Chinese partners to develop a range of new-energy vehicles.
Last week, Ford said it would invest 5 billion yuan (US$754mil) with a Chinese partner, while Honda Motor Co announced in September it would launch a China-specific EV in 2018.
The addition of a compact crossover should give Toyota a boost in China, where it trails Japanese peers Nissan Motor Co and Honda even as sales at all three got help this year from troubles at South Korean rival Hyundai Motor Co.
Honda is challenging the leadership Nissan has held since 2009, partly on the success of the XR-V and Vezel small sport utility vehicles.