Toyota Australia’s plans for low-emissions are on a steady path

Toyota Australia has been very much considerate in adding a lot of value to reducing carbon emission with its cars. However, it is quite interesting to know that the automaker does not sell a single completely electric model in the country yet.

Despite not having a single EV, Toyota does manage to play a huge role in curbing the emission, thanks to the wide portfolio of hybrid cars. And with this, the VP of Sales and Marketing, Sean Hanley has announced publicly that the target for the sales of petrol-hybrid cars in Australia would be 40,000, much more than 28,000 units in 2019. This high target is around 20% of the total sales the company expects.

What Toyota’s line of concern is that just by focusing on the sales of affordable hybrid cars, the company can reduce carbon emissions by around 20,000 tonnes each year. However, if the focus is shifted to EVs, that do not emit carbon at all, the industry would become very expensive. Nevertheless, EVs are very expensive in the first place and that would restrict the automakers to a small audience. Of course, there is a difference to the market that a $55,000 Corolla EV and a $25,000 Corolla Hybrid would serve.

Plus, Mr. Hanley has even expressed that electrification is not an overnight process. It took 19 years for hybrid cars to gain momentum in the Australian market as the first Toyota Prius arrived in 2001. EVs won’t be taking that long to get a grip in the industry, but there is still time. Electrification is the ultimate goal, but if mathematically, a large number of hybrids can prevent the same amount of carbon emission as a small number of EVs, it would sound logical.

The sale of EVs has grown too. According to the Electric Vehicle Council, the total number of EVs sold in 2019 was 6,718, which is 300% more than the figure in 2018 (2,216). However, when it comes to petrol hybrids, 30,641 units were sold last year, which is a growth of 54% over the preceding year.

Also read: Toyota joins hand with BYD for a joint EV company