Toyota delays first U.S. electric car production to 2026 as EV sales slow
Author: Economic Daily / Compiled by Ye Tingjun / Comprehensive foreign news
Toyota is delaying the first production of electric vehicles in the United States to 2026, citing design adjustments and slowing electric vehicle sales as the reasons. However, Toyota said it plans to sell as many as seven all-electric vehicles in the United States in the next two years.
Toyota had originally planned to start production of a three-row, battery-powered SUV at an assembly plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, next year, but a spokesman said on the 2nd that the plan has been delayed by several months and will not be carried out until the following year.
The spokesman said Toyota remains committed to building the unnamed SUV in Kentucky starting in early 2026 and another all-electric vehicle at a plant in Princeton, Indiana, later that year.
The move comes as Toyota plans to expand its U.S. electric vehicle lineup to as many as seven models from the current two, amid slowing demand for electric vehicles. As for Toyota's plan to promote electric vehicles in the United States, it is to help promote the company's goal of selling 1.5 million electric vehicles worldwide by 2026. To achieve this goal, Toyota is building a lithium battery factory in North Carolina, which is expected to start production in 2025.
In February, Toyota said it would spend $1.3 billion to convert its Kentucky plant to produce electric vehicles, and then announced in April that it would invest $1.4 billion in its Indiana plant to produce a second electric vehicle.
The news was first reported by Nikkei, which also reported that Toyota had canceled plans to produce Lexus-brand SUVs in North America before 2030.
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