Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) has aligned with its Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) mothership to announce a new Global and Regional Policy which will see the local arm adopt a multi-pathway product approach that will result in an increase in New Energy Vehicles being introduced locally. See the details below!

This week, TSAM welcomed Hiroki Nakajima, Executive Vice President for Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), as well as Toshimitsu Imai, CEO of TMC Africa Region and Executive Vice President of the Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC), and Shinichiro Otsuka, Chief Operating Officer for TTC Africa Region, to share the new Toyota Mobility Concept that incorporates increased electrification, diversification and intelligence across Toyota’s future product range.

Toyota aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and the Japanese company is expanding its Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) portfolio worldwide, aiming to launch no fewer than 10 new BEV models by 2026 to generate around 1.5 million sales per annum.

Apart from BEV expansion, TMC will also expand its Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) footprint, positioning this powertrain type as a “practical BEV”.

Toyota’s local NEV strategy will see more HEVs introduced locally, with PHEVs and BEVs to follow.

More so, Toyota is considered to be a leader in producing Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and the Japanese firm will continue to improve its product offering in this space. More than this, Toyota will also pursue mass production of hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles while exploring carbon-neutral fuels as part of the firm’s multi-pathway product approach.

Toyota will also look to infuse its products with enhanced intelligence that incorporates improved safety technology, multimedia and feature updates, including a new operating system to accompany the firm’s latest generation of BEVs.

Speaking in TSAM’s auditorium in Durban, Imai said: “Our chairman, Akio Toyoda, said ‘Let’s make ever better cars’ when he became CEO of Toyota in 2009. New CEO, Sato-san said ‘Let’s change the future of cars’. Here we can clearly see ‘Inheritance’ and ‘Evolution’. We at Toyota Africa are responsible to mass-produce happiness in Africa. There are 54 countries in Africa, each with a unique environment, market and policy to consider. Therefore, with the philosophy of leaving no one behind in Africa, Toyota believes HEV is the best immediate solution for CN, considering the existing infrastructure”.

New Toyota Hybrid Models Confirmed for SA in 2024

Locally produced petrol hybrid versions of the Hilux and Fortuner are expected to come to market in 2024.

Toyota has identified HEVs as being the most sensible form of propulsion in the South African context considering the state of electricity supply and current market conditions.

As such, TSAM will be introducing new competitive HEV products from both the Toyota and Lexus stables. Importantly, local production volumes of the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid will increase. As it stands, New Energy Vehicles (NEV) currently account for 3% of local sales for TSAM and the goal is to increase NEV sales to 10% (22 000 units) by 2025 and 20% (54 000 units) by 2030. Following this, TSAM will slowly introduce PHEV, FCEV and BEV products in South Africa.

From a regional perspective, Toyota aims to sell over 500 000 vehicles in Africa, with majority of those vehicles being produced by TSAM at Prospecton.

In addition to this new local product strategy, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) has confirmed it will locally produce a petrol-hybrid version of both the Hilux bakkie and Fortuner SUV. These new hybrid models are expected to come to market in 2024.

Andrew Kirby, President and CEO of TSAM, said: “To tie to the themes of ‘Inheritance’ and ‘Evolution,’ and following extensive strategy planning and learnings from the 2022 flood recovery, we understand that selling vehicles is no longer business as usual. TSAM recognises the risks, opportunities, and challenges on the continent due to global automotive disruptions, and we realise the need to strengthen our foundations and step-up business reforms. We have further identified the need to accelerate three key areas as mentioned by Nakajima, Imai and Otsuka. They are our CN initiatives, the relentless pursuit of the right products for all our customers and positive regional impact. Whilst we appreciate that the last three years has enabled TSAM to strengthen its foundations, we are inspired by TMC’s new guiding principles of ‘inheritance’ and ‘evolution’ and recognise that there is a lot more work to be done to accelerate change”.

We will keep you updated as more information is released in due course.

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