Toyota Considers Going Hybrid-Only in Some Markets

Toyota is considering cutting pure internal combustion engine powertrains from some of its models and potentially marketing only hybrid powertrain vehicles across it range in the U.S.

Those are the claims being made by the automaker’s U.S. sales boss, David Christ, head of sales and marketing for Toyota in North America, speaking to Reuters news agency.

The self-charging gas-hybrid pioneer could make the transition away from pure ICE nearly three decades after launching its first hybrid, the Prius.

Christ’s assessment sits with Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda’s comments in January that he believed the global market share of battery-electric vehicles will peak at just 30%. This would justify the automaker’s “multi-pathway” strategy that includes BEVs, hybrids, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, green carbon neutral combustion fuels and any other future propulsion technologies.

Christ says Toyota has not yet set a deadline for producing an all-hybrid lineup, and that certain models, such as pickups and economy cars, may take longer because of consumer price sensitivity on entry-level versions. He adds: “Going forward, we plan to evaluate, carline by carline, whether going all-hybrid makes sense.”

The automaker has already moved to offer some of its most popular models in the U.S., for example, as hybrids only such as the Camry sedan and Sienna minivan.