Toyota, the world's largest automaker, has revised its electric vehicle (EV) production targets, reducing its 2026 output goal by a third.
The original target of 1.5 million EVs has been lowered to one million units due to a "slowdown in the global EV market," according to Nikkei.
This adjustment follows similar moves by other major brands like Volvo, Volkswagen, and Ford, all of which have scaled back their EV ambitions as sales in the sector start to soften.
While Toyota’s EV production will still grow in the coming years, the pace will be slower than originally planned. Toyota aims to sell 140,000 EVs in 2024, up from around 100,000 in 2023, and projects reaching 400,000 by 2025.
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Toyota’s flagship EV, the bZ4X, was launched earlier this year but has seen modest sales. Only 717 units sold by the end of August.
In contrast, Tesla’s Model Y, the country’s best-selling EV, logged 12,516 registrations in the first eight months of 2024.
Toyota has also been producing battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in China, partnering with companies like BYD, FAW, and GAC to build models such as the bZ3 sedan and bZ3X crossover.
Toyota’s luxury division, Lexus, has also introduced BEVs like the UX 300e city SUV and the RZ model, which shares its platform with the bZ4X.
In 2021, Toyota had initially planned to launch 30 new EVs by the end of the decade, even rolling out 16 concept models to signal its commitment. However, by 2022, the company began reworking these plans to adopt more efficient production methods similar to Tesla’s.
It remains unclear how this latest production cut will impact Toyota's future EV plans or the rollout of its upcoming models.
