Photo/Hao Shuai (NBD)

Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota, has once again expressed his views on all-electric vehicles.

At the 40th anniversary of the NPS Research Association held recently, Toyoda said that Toyota serves about 1 billion people worldwide and needs to provide cars to places without electricity, so it needs to develop multiple paths. "From the perspective of the development of all-electric vehicles, it is expected to account for 30% of the global automotive market. The remaining 70% will be HEVs, hydrogen fuel cell (FCEVs), hydrogen fuel engine vehicles, and gasoline vehicles, which I believe will have a place." In Toyoda's view, it is not the regulations or political forces that decide this, but the customers and the market.

It is worth noting that Toyoda's prediction of the market share of all-electric vehicles has attracted the attention of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who responded with "Sigh" on social media.

In fact, this is not the first time that Toyoda has made relevant comments about all electric vehicles, and many of his views have been seen by the outside world as "bombarding" all electric vehicles. During the Tokyo Auto Show last year, Toyoda said that the company's slowing sales were proof that he was right to resist electric vehicles. Automakers should continue to invest in hybrid vehicles rather than go all-in on electric vehicles.

In response, a Toyota China insider told NBD, "In fact, many times, this kind of so-called 'pessimistic' remarks are misunderstandings. It may just be a small part of the president's speech, not what he meant. ."

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, told NBD that Toyoda's remarks on all electric vehicles reflected the pain and anxiety of traditional car giants in the process of transformation. "For a car company of Toyota's size, transformation is a very difficult process." Cui Dongshu said.

It is worth noting that in contrast to the growth trend of Toyota's global sales, Toyota's performance in the Chinese market is slightly weak.

According to official data, in 2023, Toyota's sales in the Chinese market will be about 1.9076 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 1.7%.

"Toyota has realized that in the forefront market of electrification and intelligentization in China, we have not done well enough. Therefore, we must speed up and keep up with the pace of Chinese users and meet the needs of Chinese users." The aforementioned Toyota China insider told NBD.

In addition to the bZ4X and bZ3, Toyota plans to launch two more BEV models in 2024 that are developed locally to meet local needs.