Toyota The Hybrid King Who Challenges The Dominance Of Pure Electric Cars

Toyota RAV4. (Doc. Toyota USA)

JAKARTA Toyota is some of the many Japanese automotive manufacturers who have been criticized for being slow to switch to full electrification. Toyota's hard head towards pure electric cars and choosing to focus more on hybrids is a major challenge to the industry's general views and global regulators that all future cars are electric.

Interestingly now, Reuters reported, quoted August 16, Toyota will instead become the first car manufacturer to leave a fully gasoline car in North America soon. It is even possible that all lines of Toyota and Lexus products are hybrid models. This was revealed by two Toyota executives to Reuters.

Toyota's plan is clear after the beginning of the year the chairman of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, predicts that the global electric car market share will only reach 30 percent. In anticipation, the world's largest automotive manufacturer carries a "multi-path" strategy that includes electric cars, hybrids, hydrogen-fueled vehicles, green fuel, and other technological potentials. Well, if you look at the current market conditions, Toyota's steps are very precise, especially the hybrid approach, this step is now also being followed by many other manufacturers.

"In the future, we will evaluate each model to determine whether being a full hybrid is the right move," said David Christ, head of Toyota's sales and marketing in North America.

This evaluation will be carried out whenever the model is redesigned, maybe even more often. One example is the RAV4 which will undergo major changes to the 2026 model. Currently, RAV4, America's best-selling SUV, already has a hybrid variant that accounts for about half of its sales.

A trusted source revealed that Toyota is very likely to remove the gasoline version from RAV4 for the North American market, although a final decision has not yet been made.

Toyota has stopped selling gasoline-engine Camry for the 2025 model, while Land Cruiser and Sienna are now only available in hybrid versions. Many of these hybrid models are also likely to be offered as plug-in hybrid with larger batteries.

Toyota's plans to turn its entire or almost all of its product lines in North America into pure hybrid have never been reported before.

Toyota's hybrid strategy aims to strengthen its dominant position in the market segment which has returned to popularity as demand for electric cars slows down due to high prices and charging difficulties. Toyota hybrid cars do not need to be charged and can switch smoothly between gasoline and electricity, or use both at once depending on driving conditions. Plug-in hybrid can be charged and can typically cover a distance of about 64 kilometers with battery power before the gasoline engine is active.