Toyota Motor Corp. lowered its electric vehicle sales expectations for this fiscal year by a rather significant 39 percent, from an initial 202,000 units to a less-than-stellar figure of 123,000, the company said in its second-quarter financial report.
However, let’s not forget that the Japanese company is one of the three biggest carmakers in the world and that its EV portfolio is pretty sparse, at least at the moment, so it’s no surprise that Toyota is leaning on its internal combustion and hybrid models to help it reach record profits by the end of this fiscal year that closes on March 31, 2024.
Previously, the Japanese group predicted that its operating profit would match a record-high level of 3 trillion yen ($20.1 billion), but with the latest financial report, that prediction has gone up to 4.5 trillion yen ($30.15 billion).
Until the fiscal year ends, Toyota wants to sell 3.6 million traditional hybrids worldwide, up from an earlier outlook of 3.5 million, while total electrified vehicle sales – including EVs, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles – are expected to reach 3.9 million, up 42 percent from the previous fiscal year. Electrified vehicles will account for about 37 percent of the carmaker’s total sales.
In total, the Toyota and Lexus marques are expected to manufacture a record 10.1 million vehicles this fiscal year, while the outlook for consolidated global retail sales has gone up to a record 11.38 million units in the current fiscal year.
In the last fiscal quarter, Toyota registered a pretty rare double-digit operating profit margin of 12.6 percent worldwide, more than double the year before when it had a margin of 6.1 percent.
Currently, the Japanese automaker has just a handful of battery-powered cars in its portfolio, including the Toyota bZ4X and Lexus RZ, but it plans to launch 10 new EVs by 2026 and solid-state batteries that will reportedly offer over 621 miles of range on a full charge a year later.
With this being said, Toyota Motor Corp.’s chief financial officer Yoichi Miyazaki said that hybrids helped the company lay a solid financial foundation for the EVs that are in the pipeline.
“Another major point is the careful timing of our investment decisions,” he said. “Our comprehensive assessment of investments in BEVs and batteries while considering the energy situation and infrastructure in each country, the evolution of technology, and changes in actual customer demand has enabled us to achieve a strong financial foundation upon which we can promote investments for the future.”
Ford and General Motors also tempered their EV sales and production expectations, with GM abandoning its 400,000 production target and the blue oval automaker delaying production at one of its upcoming battery plants, as well as cutting manufacturing targets for the Mustang Mach-E.
