Toyota Positions Lexus as Its Flagship Electric Vehicle Brand
Toyota is beginning a more concerted effort to develop electric vehicles, and has chosen its luxury brand Lexus over the core Toyota line for the revamp. The current president of Lexus International will also be promoted to CEO and President of all of Toyota, effective April 1.
The implication is the new EV focus at Lexus will guide Toyota's strategy going forward. Current CEO Akio Toyoda will step down on April 1 amid criticism for his hesitancy to convert Toyota's lineup to full EVs as its rivals have. Instead, he touted a hybrid-first approach, believing vehicles like the Prius have an important short-term role to play in reducing carbon emissions.
That seems to have, well, gotten him the boot, and going forward Toyota will "accelerate" battery electric vehicle development, though it still plans to pursue several fuel types with a "multi-pathway" approach. "The energy situation varies around the world. We want to stay in tune with customers...and provide diverse options," it says.
However, Lexus will pursue an EV-only strategy, with plans for full electrification by 2035 (pushed back five years from a 2021 commitment(Opens in a new window) to do so by 2030). Lexus's first fully electric vehicle is set to launch later this year, the 2023 RZ. It starts around $60,000.
The price point reflects the majority of other EVs on the market today, though there are several sub-$40,000 options. Toyota already offers one battery-electric vehicle, the Toyota bZ4X ($42,000), and has said it plans to launch five more EVs under the "bZ" badge ("beyond zero"), TechCrunch reports(Opens in a new window).
Although Toyota already offers an electric vehicle while Lexus does not, the higher price on Lexus vehicles makes the brand an easier
Read more on pcmag.com
