Where Toyota copies Tesla

Over the next three years, Toyota will be launching six new all-electric models on the European market. The manufacturer gave a preview of four of the vehicles last week in Brussels. In addition to a small SUV the size of the Toyota Yaris, Toyota Motor Europe (TME) is also planning an Urban SUV Concept. The car will be rolling out to dealerships as early as 2024. The new electric vehicles (BEV) should be one thing above all: affordable.

Toyota's European boss Matt Harrison has set himself the goal of offering "mobility for all". However, offering electric cars at affordable prices is currently seen as squaring the circle in the automotive industry. They are still around 10,000 euros more expensive than combustion engines. Toyota is taking a first step with its new, small SUV, which could be called the bZ3X. It is expected to cost less than 40,000 euros.

For the first time, Toyota is copying part of Tesla's production system in order to reduce manufacturing costs. For decades, Toyota was regarded as the role model for efficient production and was copied by all manufacturers - from General Motors to Porsche. Now the Japanese manufacturer is using another manufacturer's system for the first time. With "gigacasting", large structural parts of the body are produced in a single casting, which is faster and more efficient than assembling them from hundreds of individual parts. Toyota's premium brand Lexus will be the first to use gigacasting.

The world's largest car manufacturer wants to become climate-neutral in Europe in just twelve years. "Our goal is to achieve 100 percent CO2 neutrality across our entire model range by 2035," said Andrea Carlucci, Chief Marketing and Product Officer. The company also wants to achieve zero CO2 emissions in production and logistics by 2040. Globally, Toyota will not reach this target until ten years later.

However, this does not mean that all of the brand's new cars in Europe will be battery-electric by 2035. The company is continuing its multi-pronged approach to a climate-neutral future: depending on the market, Toyota wants to offer hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery and fuel cell systems, hydrogen combustion engines and vehicles for e-fuels. (amp)