“But at the moment, I think first of all, strong hybrids are a kind of practical answer,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Auto Expo held as part of the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025. said.
Elaborating further, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Executive Vice President and Country Head Vikram Gulati said the company has multiple pathways from battery electric to hydrogen, plug-in hybrids and flex fuels. .
“Our approach is that we feel we need to tackle carbon (emissions) and energy issues at a much faster scale. ‘Because not all consumers have the same needs,’ Gulati said.
When asked about Toyota’s plans for fully electric vehicles in India, he said: “Of course we are thinking about it. But as we have said repeatedly as a solution, (EVs) are not the only answer. We have many answers. There is,” he said.
He said that while the global market has seen a slowdown in EVs recently, it is unclear whether that will be the case in India as well, and the company wants to “ascertain customer preferences” first.
When asked whether Toyota will launch an EV in India and how soon it will launch an EV, considering that Suzuki, with whom it has a global product and technology partnership, has introduced an EV, Gulati answered. He said, “We intend to do so, but as a matter of corporate policy, we will not state it explicitly.” SUV and VITARA.
He argued that when it comes to the availability of EV technology, “Toyota has had it since 1996, so it’s not difficult at all.”
At the expo, TKM showcased its all-electric bZ4X and URBAN BEV concepts, in addition to other fuel technologies, as part of its multi-path approach towards carbon neutrality.
When asked if Toyota is considering introducing SUVs, MPVs, and large vehicles as the Indian market is moving toward SUVs, MPVs, and large vehicles, Mr. Asazuma replied, “Why not? If there is a trend, we would like to respond to it.”
He added, “Seeing this momentum, we are increasing our production capacity to see how we can provide the best cars.”
Gulati said Toyota Kirloskar Motor recently announced a major investment of Rs 3,300 crore in the third line of its Bidadi plant in Karnataka.
The plant’s production capacity is expected to increase by 100,000 units per year, reaching 4.4 million units per year when fully operational by 2026.
