Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Toyoda

One might suspect that the title of this piece is a misprint, but you would be wrong as the title refers to Akio Toyoda, the sixty-six year old CEO of Toyota Motors. Back at the end of September in Las Vegas he simply stated he would like his legacy to be: “I love cars.”

Personally I have a lot of respect for Akio Toyoda because he is the CEO of a company that makes a quality product. (As an aside, I have owned nothing but Toyotas since 1985, including a Tercel, Camry x2, a Four Runner, and RAV4 x2. If you are thinking that Toyotas do not last, you’d be wrong, as over the years I have passed five of these down to my kids.)

Toyota is somewhat of a rebel these days among car makers, as it is not going full bore, 100%, into EVs, and Akio Toyoda  is the one behind this reticence. 

From CNBC in October, 2022:

“Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, plans to invest $70 billion in electrified vehicles over the next nine years. Half of that will be for all-electric battery ones. While it’s a substantial investment in EVs, it’s smaller than some competitors’ plans, and not as much as some would like given Toyota’s global footprint.

“Despite criticism from some investors and environmental groups, Toyoda this past week doubled down on his strategy to continue investing in a range of electrified vehicles as opposed to competitors such as Volkswagen and General Motors, which have said they are going all-in on all-electric vehicles.

‘For me, playing to win also means doing things differently. Doing things that others may question, but that we believe will put us in the winner’s circle the longest,’ he said during Toyota’s annual dealer meeting in Las Vegas, which, by the way, was called ‘Playing to Win.’

Toyoda reiterated that he does not believe all-electric vehicles will be adopted as quickly as policy regulators and competitors think, due to a variety of reasons. He cited lack of infrastructure, pricing and how customers’ choices vary region to region as examples of possible roadblocks.

Toyoda also believes there will be ‘tremendous shortages’ of lithium and battery grade nickel in the next five to 10 years, leading to production and supply chain problems.”

That was Toyoda’s opinion back in September. Has he changed his mind?

From BlazeNews in December:

“Toyota Motor Corporation president Akio Toyoda is pumping the brakes on the idea of an all-in approach to EVs.

‘People involved in the auto industry are largely a silent majority,’ Toyoda told reporters during a trip to Thailand, according to the Wall Street Journal. ‘That silent majority is wondering whether EVs are really OK to have as a single option. But they think it’s the trend so they can’t speak out loudly.’

‘Because the right answer is still unclear, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to just one option,’ he said, according to the outlet — during the past few years, he said, he has attempted to communicate this idea to stakeholders in the automotive space, including government figures, but he indicated that his effort had been tiring at points.

According to the Journal, Toyoda said that other options like hydrogen-powered vehicles were starting to receive a better reception from government leaders, media figures, and people in the vehicle industry.”

Is Toyota again prescient as it was with the Prius? Will the future prove Akio Toyoda to be right?

Presently Toyota stock is selling at about $145 per share. This is down from a high of about $210 a year ago. If Akio Toyoda is correct, perhaps, this a good time to buy.

5/16/23

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