Toyota Thinks The Internal Combustion Engine Still Has A Future

Seeking Alpha ^ | 05/05/2023 | Keith Williams

[SeekAndFind]

• Toyota and other Japanese car makers are trying to extend hybrids to delay electrification of transport in Indonesia.
• Toyota still talks “customer choice” while not offering fully electric vehicles.
• Changing emissions regulations in China, the US, Europe and soon Australia mean massive increases in BEV adoption. This is a threat that Toyota fails to acknowledge.
• Toyota’s claim to be clean energy focused is increasingly being challenged. It's getting too late for Toyota to enter the BEV transformation race. Investors might re-think what this means.

It's interesting to think about how one engages with an automotive manufacturer. When I think of Toyota (NYSE:TM), the "oh what a feeling" branding immediately springs to mind and I realize that superb advertising by Toyota has created that "up" feeling of someone jumping high into the air. Toyota's recent advertising has changed subtly and it's now focused on storytelling that enhances "brand beliefs" rather than an actual Toyota vehicle.

This is advertising at its best, and yet Tesla (TSLA) has made an art form of not spending money on branding through advertising. Tesla spends money on making superb vehicles that are ahead of their time and leaves the vehicles and Tesla technology to speak for itself. I've given my take on the recent Tesla Master Plan 3 investor event. It provides a huge contrast to where Toyota is currently positioned. To use a sporting analogy, if you want to win you need to have a team registered. In the electric vehicle competition Toyota is yet to register.

Here I update how I see Toyota positioning itself and also what I think that means for the company. I'm a rusted-on Lexus owner who has recently abandoned Toyota for a BYD (OTCPK:BYDDF) Atto 3 fully electric SUV (BEV, battery electric vehicle).

[SeekAndFind]

TOYOTA WILL CONTINUE COMMITMENT TO MULTI-PATHWAY APPROACH

While the rest of the car industry has advanced plans to exit the internal combustion engine - ICE, Toyota strongly reaffirms its intention to expand its hybrid offerings, especially in Southeast Asia.

Toyota's "Multi-pathway Approach" has a BEV component but also HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles), PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) and FCEVs (fuel cell electric vehicles). Note that HEVs derive all of their power from use of gasoline. They have a small battery which gets charged by the gasoline internal combustion engine. PHEVs have a small battery which can be charged with electricity, but once this small distance has been traveled, the car then uses gasoline for motoring. FCEVs are hydrogen powered.

Toyota loves to promote the concept of "choice" and for the next few years this means giving customers who want to purchase a BEV the choice to change brands.

[libh8er]

EV’s are a dead end. Lithium deposits will run out long before fossil fuels.

[rktman]

Reported several months back. Hopefully they stick to their guns. 😬👍

[libh8er]

EV’s are not sustainable.

[Dr. Sivana]

In the electric vehicle competition Toyota is yet to register.

Toyota makes the BZ4E, which is a true EV, not a hybrid. If you want an electric Toyota, you can have one. Almost everybody who wants a Toyota wants an ICE or Hybrid version.

[Secret Agent Man]

Well Toyota isn’t incorrect, that’s why.

[Secret Agent Man]

And notoriously inextinguishable.

[Dr. Sivana]

Tesla is confident of a 50% reduction in manufacturing costs and plans are well in train to produce a quality $25,000 BEV. [ . . .] By that time Tesla will have a $25,000 BEV

The author effortless glides from "Tesla is confident" to "Tesla will have". Unless Tesla is assuming massive government subsidies, it ain't gonna happen. They aren't stupid enough to make a Leaf Jr., or to cannibalize sales from cars that make money for them. They are happy to over-promise.

[Drew68]

Investors might re-think what this means.

Yes. Strong future for Toyota.

I'm all-in with Toyota. My last four vehicles have been Toyotas and I really couldn't imagine driving anything else.

I only wish they offered a coupe. Something like a 2-door Corolla with a sports package. I know they have the GR86 but that's more of a sports car.

Looking for something sporty and economical to keep the miles low on my 2015 Tacoma 4x4 as it's the last year of the far superior Gen-2s.

[Irenic]

Yes!

[Tommy Revolts]

Hmm, who would’ve thunk it?

[IYAS9YAS]

Toyota and anyone with a firing synapse.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

“”Lithium deposits will run out long before fossil fuels.””

We have only drilled a few miles into the Earth. We have, today, thousands of years of hydrocarbons (I stopped using ‘fossil’ fuels ages ago). On Saturn’s moon Titan there are oceans of hydrocarbons. It rains hydrocarbons. I sincerely doubt that ancient dinosaurs and savannas created these hydrocarbons on Titan.

I would so enjoy to move forward in time, to when the Great Cold that caused New York and Chicago to be under a mile of ice returns (the cyclical ice ages). It would be so much fun to watch the future Comedy Channel viewers as they laugh and laugh at AlGore and his minions “The Earth has a fever”

[citizen]

The article excerpt sounds like the point of view of a Tesla fanboy and general EV booster.

I wonder if his Tesla or other EV make is his only auto? If not, why put much creedence in anything he says?

[MileHi]

so does BEV mean something?

[roving]

I just read a few min ago Tesla is losing a lot of money

[citizen]

I guess BEV means battery EV.

[MileHi]

Might be I guess. Fan bois like to use their lingo that makes them sound smart to each other.

[MAGAthon]

of course it does.

long live ICEs.

[citizen]

I don’t hate the EVs just beccause. Running around town they’re mostly OK - if it’s not really cold or really hot and you’re not sitting dead in traffic for hours and you have at least a level 2 home charger.

That’s too many ifs for me. Plus, they’re expensive. And oh yeah, spontaneous combustion...