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Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has been criticized for promoting few electric vehicles, but its decision to bet on hybrids is paying off financially.
By Neal E. Boudette
In today’s high-tech, high-stakes automotive industry, fortunes can be replenished quickly, and there’s no better example of that right now than Toyota Motor.
Not long ago, Toyota seemed to be falling dangerously behind in the EV space. Tesla, the pioneer of the electric car, has grown to become the world’s most valuable automaker. Seeing Tesla’s success, other companies, such as General Motors and Ford Motor, concluded that large numbers of consumers were about to switch to battery-powered cars and trucks and began making tens of billions of dollars of investment to catch up.
Toyota, however, has been more planned, or lethargic, its critics would say. So far, it has brought only two all-electric models to the U. S. , more than its gasoline-electric hybrids and plug-in hybrids, which it is known for. , would remain popular and would be enough to combat the climate for now.
Amid all the hype for electric cars in recent years, it seemed as if Toyota just didn’t get it.
“I was surprised when I first heard about Toyota’s strategy because maybe I saw what Tesla was doing,” said Earl Stewart, a Toyota racer in Lake Park, Fla. , who also likes to drive his Tesla Model S.
But in the past six months, sales of electric vehicles have slowed and U. S. car buyers, to reduce their fuel expenses and exhaust emissions, have turned to hybrids. Today, Toyota’s sales are booming, and the company is making huge profits.
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