Toyota’s EV Strategy Might Be Akio Toyoda’s Undoing | The Morning Shift

Akio Toyoda has been a rare EV naysayer in the auto industry. Photo: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/Gamma-Rapho (Getty Images)

Despite being the darling of eco-conscious drivers 20 years ago with the launch of the Prius, Toyota has been stagnant in its efforts to electrify its range. Where outfits like VW have made efforts to electrify various segments of the market, Toyota was late to introduce a fully electric vehicle and now, when companies like BMW have four, or more, EVs in their ranges, Toyota still just has one: the bZ4x.

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Now, that sluggish uptick in electric vehicles at Toyota could be about to hit company chairman Akio Toyoda’s vision for the future. According to The Wall Street Journal, the chairman of the company’s board is set to face a vote against his leadership brought on by the automaker’s shareholders. The WSJ reports:

Shareholders including the New York City comptroller’s office, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and a handful of European asset managers say they have voted or plan to vote to oust several Toyota directors including Toyoda from their board seats at the meeting Wednesday.

While citing governance issues as one reason, they say their vote is also a protest against Toyoda’s policy of not setting a date by which the carmaker’s lineup will be all electric.

Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller and one of the shareholders looking to vote on the matter, told The WSJ that he wanted to be “persuaded that there is a transition” to EVs under way at Toyota.

There should be no surprise that the focus of this vote is on Toyoda. The 67-year-old has been a rare “voice of caution” against the auto industry’s infatuation with EVs. He believes the “world isn’t ready” to go all in on electric cars due to “problems such as inadequate charging infrastructure, shortages of battery materials and the reliance of many nations on carbon-emitting fossil fuels for electricity,” The WSJ reports.

The site reports that this might not be enough for Toyoda to lose his seat, and says that the chance of him losing a vote remains “minuscule.” However, it says that votes such as this are used to protest executives and help “nudge” businesses around to their way of thinking.

I guess the result of if this tactic works or not will be the day we finally see an all-electric lineup at Toyota. Let’s not hold our breath for that just yet.