Toyota is reportedly under pressure from investors over slow EV sales and the company’s inability to convince the market to switch to EVs.
AkademikerPension, which is a Danish pension fund manager and Toyota investor, said Toyota had repeatedly tried to undermine efforts by governments in several countries to phase out internal combustion engines. Toyota is also considered to promote activities related to ICE cars more often than EVs.
Apart from AkademikerPension, AP7 from Sweden, and The Storebrand Group from Norway also conveyed the same thing regarding the promotion of ICE which is still being raised. Complaints from European investors have actually been going on since early 2021, but there has been no change from Toyota.
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This is also exacerbated by a statement by CEO Akio Toyoda who said that the company does not need to rush towards EVs, and will continue to focus on selling ICE cars for the next few years. Toyoda even disagreed with the Japanese government’s decision to limit the use of fossil fuels.
As if the pressure from investors wasn’t enough, Toyota’s headquarters in Japan has recently been demolished by environmental activists who asked Toyota’s steps to maintain emissions and asked Toyota to stop fossil fuel cars.
âWe wanted to know in detail how Toyota plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and demonstrate clear company goals that are in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement,â said Daniel Read, climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace Japan.
Despite strong pressure from various parties, Toyota said that it will continue to develop environmentally friendly vehicles in stages, until finally being able to sell EVs completely.
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“If you feel the process is very slow, it’s because we can’t limit our customers’ choices. Toyota operates in different parts of the world, and serves customers with different needs,” said Toyota Executive Vice President Masahiko Maeda.
Toyota also reiterated that its policy of developing environmentally friendly vehicles must be adapted to where Toyota is located. This is because not all markets are willing to buy EVs and have adequate infrastructure to sell EVs.
