The chairman of the world’s largest car maker says banning internal combustion engines threatens the livelihoods of millions of workers.
Akio Toyoda – chairman and former CEO of Toyota – has said a ban on petrol and diesel engines could lead to millions of job losses for both car makers and suppliers.
The Japanese government plans for all new car sales to be ‘zero-emission vehicles’ – meaning battery-electric – by the year 2035.
According to Reuters, Mr Toyoda said banning petrol and diesel internal combustion engines in Japan would have dire consequences for the industry and the country’s economy.
“There are 5.5 million people involved in the automotive industry in Japan. Among them are those who have been doing engine-related [jobs] for a long time,” Reuters reported the car maker’s chairman saying.
“If electric vehicles simply become the only choice, including for our suppliers, those people’s jobs would be lost.”
The comments come only weeks after Toyota slashed its electric vehicle targets by one-third to 1 million cars in 2026.
Mr Toyoda – who was CEO of the Japanese car maker from 2009 until last year – previously said electric vehicles could only ever make up around 30 per cent of Toyota’s global sales regardless of technological innovations or government incentives for users.
Mr Toyoda also previously said the solution to “climb the mountain of carbon neutrality is related to each country’s energy situation”.
The former Toyota CEO has spoken about the lack of electricity in some nations around the world, with the car maker following what it calls a ‘multi-pathway’ approach.
Instead of a showroom exclusively made up of battery-electric vehicles, this sees petrol and diesel engines, petrol-electric hybrid models as well as hydrogen fuel-cell and battery electric Toyotas offered around the world.
The mix of powertrains available would be determined by the buying preferences – with local technology and economic factors – of each country.
Toyota – and its premium brand Lexus – was slow to add battery-electric vehicles to their line-ups compared to rivals.
The 2024 bZ4X SUV was the first electric Toyota in Australian showrooms but came long after key rivals such as the Tesla Model Y which was introduced in 2022.
The Toyota bZ4X is twinned with the Subaru Solterra and is one of three electric vehicles the two car makers will co-develop, the second – with details yet to be confirmed – scheduled for a 2026 reveal.
At the same time, Toyota has benefited from an increase in hybrid sales in key markets such as the US – where almost half of all Toyotas sold in September 2024 were hybrids – as well as Australia.
Hybrid sales in Australia have grown by 50 per cent over the last two years with the Toyota RAV4 the best-selling car in Australia for September 2024.
As such, Toyota is one a few companies investing in petrol-engine technology – with its latest tech expected on an updated RAV4 Hybrid in 2025.
Japan is not alone in looking to ban the sale of petrol and diesel-powered new cars.
Similar goals around the world include the European Union (EU) and Canada having the same 2035 deadline for the phasing out of internal combustion engines from new car showrooms.
The United Kingdom has a more ambitious 2030 target after a promise by the Labour Party – which won the July 2024 general election – to bring its ban forward from 2035 if it was voted into office.
The United States has targets for reduced emissions but not yet a complete ban on sales of internal combustion engines.
Similarly, Australia does not have a national timeframe to outlaw the sale of internal combustion engines.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is the first and currently only part of the country with a ban on new petrol and diesel-powered vehicles planned for 2035.
Yet work is underway with a parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s proposed transition to electric vehicles announced in January 2024.
It came after sales of new electric vehicles in Australia grew from 2 per cent of total new vehicle sales in 2022 to 7.2 per cent in 2023 – with growth of electric cars sales still forecast to be at least 1 per cent up by the end of 2024 despite a cooling market.
Meanwhile, the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) will come into effect in Australia on 1 January 2025 – although it has been softened to allow a 12-month transition period for car makers.
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