- Toyota is not keen to make performance electric cars under its high-performance GR sub-brand.
Toyota has been criticised by automotive experts several times for not showing enough commitment towards electric vehicles. Instead, the Japanese car manufacturer has always expressed its intent to explore a variable range of greener and cleaner powertrain solutions beyond just focusing on battery electric vehicles. Now, the auto company has revealed that it is not thinking of electric performance cars as of now.
In an interaction with Australian automotive magazine Car Expert, Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) President Tomoya Takahashi said that the company has no plans for a performance electric car. He reportedly said that GR intends to use internal combustion engines as much as possible. He believes that combustion engines still have a bright future and that is why the automaker is continuing investment in ICE technology.
Takahashi reportedly said that Toyota’s GR division will bring more models into the market beyond the GR86, GR Yaris, GR Corolla and GR Supra. These upcoming GR models will come with combustion engines only as he hinted. “There may be a time in the future when engines are banned, but internal combustion engines aren’t bad, the enemy is carbon,” he said.
At a time when the global car manufacturers have been thriving to grab a sizeable share of the ever-bulging electric vehicle market, Toyota has been sluggish in this segment. The automaker has instead always advocated for a wider range of cleaner powertrain solutions instead of focusing only on electric vehicles. The wider range of cleaner powertrain technology solutions for which Toyota has been advocating include hybrid vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, biofuel, flex fuel etc. However, this strategy has made many consumers shying away from Toyota. Also, this strategy resulted in the automaker losing a chance to grab a sizeable share in the global EV space. Lately, the automaker has started investing heavily on electric vehicles, but when it comes to performance cars, Toyota seems to be not keen to make EVs.
First Published Date: 30 May 2024, 06:43 AM IST