While many automakers made bold commitments to all-electric vehicles years ago only to scale back those plans amid slower than expected growth in demand, Toyota has long been skeptical of EVs in general. Regardless, the Japanese automaker has still maintained that it will develop and sell a number of EVs in the coming years, including a planned three-row SUV at its Kentucky plant starting next year. However, it seems as if Toyota has decided to push back that date by roughly one year now.
According to Nikkei Asia, Toyota has reportedly informed its suppliers that it won’t be starting production of that planned three-row EV SUV in 2025 as expected, but now, has delayed it by several months to 2026. The automaker hasn’t announced exactly when it expects that process to begin, but noted that the delay stems from some changes it’s making to the vehicle’s design, at least, in part.
Toyota previously stated that it planned to launch 10 EVs across the globe by 2026, all underpinned by a new platform, which will also be the case with this three-row SUV. It expected to build 1.5 million EVs annually across the globe – a number that has reportedly been adjusted down to one million now – but in the meantime, Toyota has also reportedly canceled plans to build Lexus EVs in North America by 2030 – instead, it will produce those vehicles in Japan and export them to that market. Just this past February, Toyota announced that it was investing another $1.3 billion in its flagship Kentucky site, bringing the plant’s total investment up to nearly $10 billion to date.
Much has changed in the years since Toyota announced these ambitious plans, as just this past August, another report indicated that the automaker is considering moving to a full or nearly-full hybrid lineup in North America, and that includes its luxury brand, Lexus. However, it isn’t alone in that regard, as Ford recently canceled its own plans to build two three-row EV SUVs for North America, instead opting to replace both with new hybrids.
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