A Toyota Motor Corp. executive said Aug. 18 that adoption of electric vehicles may be slower than expected.
“I would be cautious where we’re going,” Jack Hollis, executive vice president of sales at Toyota Motor North America, said during a webinar produced by the Detroit-based Automotive Press Association.
“We’ll be ready when the market is ready,” Hollis said during the APA presentation.
Regulators in various countries are pressing automakers to convert to EV as a way to combat global warming. Since the early 20th century, cars and trucks have relied on gasoline and diesel fuel.
“We have to have multiple approaches,” Hollis said. “You have to expect some kind of slowdown.”
“The consumer is not calling” for the adoption of EVs “at the level of the rhetoric,” the executive said in response to a question.
“It always comes down to what the customer is needing,” he added.
At the same time, Hollis said, “I believe the adoption of EVs will happen.”
EVs rely on raw materials from China and other countries. Governments, including China’s, are seeking automakers to convert to electric powertrains.
Also, during the program, Hollis said sedans may stage a comeback.
Automakers such as General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. have mostly exited the passenger car market in favor of crossovers and SUVs.
Toyota has been among the companies that have stayed with sedans. “Some of our competitors will come back into the sedan market,” Hollis said.
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