The most famous hybrid car in the world is a Toyota Prius, hence it does make sense that Toyota prioritizes their hybrids to be and do better in cutting carbon emissions. Toyota plans to slash its global production target for April to 750,000 vehicles. The automaker said it planned to scale back domestic production by up to 20% during the spring months (April, May, and June) to ease the strain on its suppliers.
The Toyota Kirloskar Motor recently revealed that it intends to push strong hybrids in India once it is ready with more contemporary mass-market models. Toyota is designing a wide range of new models including a new mid-sized SUV, a new C-segment MPV, and a new electric vehicle for the Indian market. Toyota has multiple strong hybrids in its global lineup including the Prius; however, most of these vehicles are large vehicles.
Speaking to ET Auto, Vikram Kirloskar, Vice Chairman, TKM, said, “We feel very strongly with 70% coal-based power, strong hybrids give the least amount of well to wheel carbon emissions. We will continue pushing hybrids. As this 70% starts coming down and more renewable energy starts coming in, we will start seeing more and more EVs. Our objective is overall carbon reduction.”
Cooper Ericksen, Toyota’s vice president for product planning and strategy in North America, explained that his company’s focus is more on affordability than range. Ericksen thinks 400 to 500 miles is a proper goal for luxury models, but longer range means bigger batteries, higher prices, and a bigger carbon footprint. “The low end to me is the more curious number. What’s the lowest number that you can put out there that achieves the affordability and the use case for that customer? I think we have some examples in the market over the past five years or so that we can learn from. It’s something we’re going to have to figure out because it has a huge impact on resources. We have to be really careful if we build EVs with 200-kwh batteries and you can build four EVs for that one. We have to think about that as a society and as an industry to figure out what’s best for consumers in the environment.”
Toyota is currently selling the Camry Hybrid, which is priced at ₹ 41.7 lakh. In the global markets, Toyota is selling Yaris Cross, C-HR, RAV4, and others with hybrid powertrains.
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