Like BMW, Toyota has been quite vocal about how the death of the combustion engine should not be blamed on the path to carbon neutrality. He believes there should be a mix of powertrains to allow people to decide what’s best for their needs, especially since EV charging infrastructure is still under development in many parts of the world. Not won. More electric cars are on the way, but the Japanese automaker isn’t giving up on ICE just yet.
In an interview with Australian magazine Drive.com.au, the local man in charge of sales and marketing spoke about the electrification route during a roundtable with reporters at the launch event of the Corolla Cross Hybrid. Sean Henley said Toyota is “not against battery-powered vehicles” but product diversification is the way to go in the near future. He was referring to hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell hydrogen models. All vehicles will be electrified to some degree by the end of the decade with one exception – the Gazoo Racing model.
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In fact, Henley said that “by 2030 every Toyota in our range, apart from the GR performance cars, will have some form of electrification.” The statement comes just weeks after the GR86’s chief engineer said there would be no additional GR models beyond the Yaris, Corolla, 86, and Supra. Will it all continue for the next seven years? Expected.
Toyota knows its audience and sticking to only ICE powertrains will appeal to those looking to buy a performance vehicle. Speaking of which, the six-cylinder GR Corolla finally gets the manual gearbox it deserves while the GR Yaris pocket rocket will inherit the powerful engine from the GR Corolla Maurizio Edition.
There’s a piece of the GR puzzle we’re missing – whatever happened to the GR Super Sport? Last we heard — which was in September 2021 — the hypercar was a concept and Toyota was studying “possible commercialization.” Considering what the GR86 chief engineer just said about limiting the GR range to four models, we wouldn’t get our hopes up too high…