"We want to achieve annual global sales of 3.5 million electric vehicles by 2030," Akio Toyoda, CEO of the Japanese auto giant, said at a press conference in Tokyo.

This is a jump of 75% compared to the previous comparable target of the group, which previously counted on annual sales of 2 million electric and fuel cell vehicles by 2030.

The Japanese manufacturer, once again world number one in the automobile sector in 2020 ahead of Volkswagen, did not specify what proportion this would represent in its total sales in volume by this deadline.

Currently, the group sells around 10 million vehicles per year.

Its premium Lexus brand will become 100% electric by 2030 in Europe, North America and China, or one million units per year, and "worldwide by 2035," Toyoda said. .

Cars on display during Toyota's strategy presentation, December 14, 2021 in Tokyo Behrouz MEHRI AFP

The group plans to invest 4,000 billion yen (31.2 billion euros at the current rate) over the period 2022-2030 in research and development and the production of electric vehicles and batteries, said Masahiko Maeda, director of the technology at Toyota.

In September, Toyota announced that it wanted to invest 1.5 trillion yen in batteries by 2030, an amount now raised to 2,000 billion yen (15.6 billion euros).

"A hell of a jump"

The group now wants to launch 30 electric models by 2030, while it had so far announced 15 by 2025. The first of this armada, an SUV called bZ4X, is due out in 2022 worldwide.

"It's a big change, a hell of a jump" for Toyota, commented Tuesday to AFP Christopher Richter, specialist in the automotive sector at the Asian broker CLSA.

The group has been slow to put itself in full line of battle for the top battle that is looming in the global electric vehicle market, because at Toyota, as in many other traditional Japanese companies, "it takes a long time to get there. consensus "on strategic decisions, according to Richter.

Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda next to two of his car models at a press conference on December 14, 2021 in Tokyo Behrouz MEHRI AFP

"The good side of things is that once they have decided on the way forward, they tend to move forward rather resolutely," said the analyst again.

However, this is not a "180 degree turn" for Toyota, Mr. Richter noted again, since the group continues to bank in parallel on other technologies such as hybrid vehicles, of which he is the world champion. .

Toyota will thus invest 4,000 billion yen also by 2030 in its other modes of electrification (hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, fuel cell vehicles), said Mr. Maeda.

"Diversified solutions"

"Toyota is a company present throughout the world, with a complete offer", or "each country faces a particular energy context", and therefore "it is important to prepare diversified solutions", explained Mr. Toyoda.

The group constantly reiterates that renewable energies may not be sufficiently available or cheap everywhere in the world in the future to allow zero mass emission mobility, for example in Japan or in many emerging countries. .

Toyota, but also Volkswagen or Renault-Nissan had thus refrained from signing a global agreement last month at the COP26 in Glasgow which would have committed them to launch only zero-emission cars by 2035 at the latest on their main markets.

Cars presented by Toyota during a press conference on the brand's strategy, December 14, 2021 in Tokyo Behrouz MEHRI AFP

"There are a lot of risks that could prevent the electric vehicle market from growing as strongly as some people think," also warned Mr. Richter of CLSA, highlighting for example the recent surge in lithium prices, essential component of batteries.

But Toyota wants to adapt according to local contexts: in early December it announced that it was "ready" to sell 100% zero-emission vehicles from 2035 in Western Europe, while the European Commission proposed to ban combustion engines on that date.

© 2021 AFP