US

Toyota Motor Corp. may shift electric-vehicle
production to the US if demand continues to grow, according to a top executive.
The Japanese carmaker is joining peers in embracing the technology. According
to Bob Carter, Executive Vice President for sales, Toyota, US, the company
would consider production at an existing or new factory in the US if there is a
sustained increase in consumers for battery-powered vehicles.

He
added that Toyota has no current plans to invest in US EV production without
specifying the sales threshold for this move. He also said that, industrywide
supply-chain issues, including a shortage of lithium-ion batteries, needed to
be resolved before Toyota could finalise the decision on building EVs in the
US.

The
company announced earlier this year that it will introduce two all-electric
vehicles in the US starting in 2022 and it would include Toyota crossover
called the bZ4X and an as-yet-unnamed Lexus model built on the same platform.
The two vehicles will be made in Japan.

The
Biden administration has encouraged the auto industry to sell more EVs as part
of a broader environmental agenda to reduce carbon emissions and is urging
automakers to push forward with their respective EV plans and expand EV product
portfolio.

Toyota has set a modest goal for all-electric or fuel-cell-powered vehicles to
make up 15% of total U.S. sales by 2030. The move to start sales of EVs marks a
U-turn for Toyota as the carmaker withdrew from EVs in the US seven years ago
when it stopped producing an all-electric version of its bestselling RAV4
crossover sport utility vehicle.

Source: HT Auto

Image Source: Google Images

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