Despite Sluggish Hybrid Auto Sales, Toyota Inclines On Hybrids
Toyota who has been consistent about its deliverance of hybrid vehicles, now the automaker intends to explore its hybrid vehicle domain by increasing the number of full and hybrid electric vehicles sold in the United States and around the world, despite low sales numbers for gas and electric vehicles.
“We are working on a complete portfolio of hybrids we have been selling since 1997, this comprises full battery-operated electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and our fuel cell vehicles,” said executive vice president of sales, Toyota North America, Bob Carter. “These vehicles account for about 9% of our turnover in 2018. We set the target of accomplishing 15% of our turnover by 2020.”
Toyota’s emphasis on hybrid vehicles comes at a time when American demand for the electric-powered gasoline vehicle is declining. LMC Automotive estimates annual US hybrid sales dropped to 6% last year, while Toyota’s alone hybrid sales fell 5%.
The lower price of gas means that potential buyers will opt for a hybrid less quickly than a model driven by a combustion engine. Another factor is the increasing number of electric models that deliver eco-friendly consumers the chance to connect and stop using gas. However, in this specific segment, Tesla remains the undisputed leader.
Last year, Toyota sold almost 28,000 electric plug-in vehicles in the United States. All were Prius Prime, a plug-in hybrid electric model. For comparison, according to the Automotive website, Tesla sold just over 191,000 electric vehicles in the United States.
Tesla’s progress in electric cars is not overwhelming, but Karl Brauer, analyst with Kelley Blue Book stated that it would be very hard for Toyota to modify its insight. Tesla is a leader in the electric vehicle industry, at least at present and would remain for some more time until other automakers present some competitive models against Tesla. Despite growing competition and growing questions about their game plan, Toyota’s leaders are not anxious. They are into the development of full- electric vehicles.
