Toyota Boss Warns Electric Vehicle Transition Can Make Many People Lose Their Jobs

Toyota bZ4X. (Doc. Global Toyota)

JAKARTA - The Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, Akio Toyoda, made a bold statement regarding the global transition to electric vehicles completely.

The man who is the founder's grandson of Toyota, Kiichiro Toyoda, thinks that switching electric vehicles will cause a lot of work, especially those associated with machines, to many suppliers.

There are 5.5 million people involved in the automotive industry in Japan. Among them are those who have been in (work) for a long time related to machines," Toyoda said as quoted by Reuters, Friday, October 11.

He emphasized that this is a danger signal for workers if the available mobility options only depend on electric vehicles (EVs).

"If electric vehicles are the only option, including for our suppliers, the jobs of those people will be lost," Toyoda said.

Because of this, the well-known automotive manufacturer from Japan is very careful in determining policies related to electric cars. So far, the steps taken by Toyota are quite appropriate considering the demand for the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) has decreased.

On the other hand, the hybrid vehicle market around the world has actually experienced an increase. Among other manufacturers, Toyota is one of the brands that openly doesn't want to depend on EVs.

With a multi-path approach, Toyota from the start provided a choice of various technologies ranging from Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV), Fuel-Cell (FCEV), to combustion engine (ICE).

During the August period, the HEV car became the largest contributor to the Toyota environmentally friendly vehicle segment worldwide with a total of 336,848 units (up 22.4 percent). Then, Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) was in second place with a total of 13,546 units, an increase of 12.1 percent last August.

Toyota's Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) is also in demand by consumers around the world by successfully selling 12,682 units (up 6.8 percent). This was followed by Mild-Hybrid (MHEV) with 8,507 units (up 257 percent) and hydrogen fuel cells (FCEV) with 144 units (down 57 percent).