Toyota to launch nine EVs by 2026, plans to keep all European plants open

A Toyota EV car is seen at the Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok, Thailand. (File photo/Reuters)

To compete in a large EV market, Toyota plans to launch a total of nine fully-electric vehicle models in Europe in 2025 and 2026 for its Toyota and premium Lexus brands.

The automaker said it will launch three Toyota brand electric SUVs in 2025 - new versions of the bZ4X, Urban Cruiser and C-HR+ - followed by three more in 2026. The company will also launch three Lexus-brand EVs in Europe over the next 12 months, starting with the new RZ SUV, according to Reuters.

The Japanese company, the world’s largest carmaker by sales, also plans to keep all eight of its European plants open, through the transition to electric cars, according to a report by The Guardian.

Matt Harrison, the chief corporate officer at Toyota Motor Europe, said the company would try to retain its eight European factories but that it would make the move to electric production gradually “over the next decade”. Toyota opened its UK plants in 1992 and they employ about 3,000 people, The Guardian reported.

Toyota makes the Corolla hatchback at Burnaston, Derbyshire, and has other car plants in France, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey.

The manufacturer was one of the leaders in making hybrid cars that combine a petrol or diesel engine with a small battery, but it has been much slower to switch production over to pure battery electric vehicles than rivals. That cautious approach has paid off financially in recent months as the pace of growth in battery car sales has slowed in some markets, including Europe.

The company has benefited from demand for its expanding hybrid line-up, including in its biggest market the United States.

While planning to venture into the EV market, Toyota said in a statement that its "multi-pathway approach" to cutting carbon dioxide emissions is based on providing different options to best suit customers in different regions, including a focus on hybrids in South America where EV sales are still low.

"Providing choice and opportunity is at the heart of ever-better cars and everything we do," Toyota Chief Branding Officer Simon Humphries said in a statement, Reuters reported.

Toyota's sales across Europe rose 13.1 percent in 2024 to just over 1 million units, in an overall market that grew by 0.9 percent.