Toyota Motor Corporation recently announced that it reached a landmark milestone in annual sales of electrified powertrains in 2017, with over 1.52 million sold worldwide as of February 2, surpassing the prior record set in 2016 by 8 per cent.

The numerical milestone marks back-to-back years of growth and the accomplishment of one of Toyota’s Environmental Challenge 2050 goals, selling more than 1.5 million electrified vehicles in a single year, three years in advance of the original target set for 2020, said a statement.

Additionally, cumulative sales of electrified vehicles now exceed 11.47 million, which represents a reduction of more than 90 million tonnes of CO2 compared to sales of equivalent conventional vehicles, it said.

Yugo Miyamoto, chief representative of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) representative office, Toyota Motor Corporation, said: “We are excited to achieve this significant milestone, which reinforces our commitment to tackling environmental challenges.”

“Toyota has the competitive expertise and know-how in the core technologies of electrification, thanks to its experience in developing, producing, and improving major electrified components and many years of collecting feedback from markets around the world,” he said.

“We are deeply grateful to our customers in the Mena region for being an integral part of our journey of success, and for continuously extending their support towards our commitment to ?environmental sustainability,” he added.

Since the introduction of its first commercially available electrified powertrain on the Prius in Japan in 1997, Toyota has worked on improving the technology as the basis for its electrification efforts, having launched the first mass-produced Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), the Mirai, in 2014, the fourth generation of the Prius hybrid electric vehicle in 2016, and the second-generation Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) in 2017.

The company will continue the development and diversification of electrified vehicles as it now turns its sights to include the mass production of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) from 2020. Toyota also aims to further expand sales of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) in emerging markets to further contribute to lowering CO2 from new vehicles sales worldwide.

The efforts to improve and increase the diversity of electrified powertrain options is tied directly to Toyota's ‘Environmental Challenge 2050,’ wherein the Company aims to achieve annual electrified vehicle sales of 5.5 million units by 2030, as announced in December 2017.

To achieve its goal, Toyota unveiled plans to have 10 BEV models available worldwide by the early 2020s, and by approximately 2025, the company aims to have an electrified version available for all vehicle models across its global lineup.

Nadim Haddad, general manager, Markazia, said: “We are encouraged by the promising results achieved in 2017, and look forward to further growth in years to come. Hybrid electric vehicles are our focus moving forward, as we believe they are the way of the future.”

“They are both economically and environmentally friendly, benefitting drivers as well as the community at large. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their loyalty and commitment to a greener Kingdom moving forward,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service