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Everyone in San Francisco got a Prius, and they were so smug about their Priuses that the air over San Francisco became covered in smug. Global laming.”FARHAD MANJOO: And it really sort of was the start of what I think of as the troll-y right. And that sentiment I think came from “South Park.” If you think about especially younger people on the right who kind of found fame online, people like Ben Shapiro or Steven Crowder, this YouTuber who takes the tone of “South Park,” I think, to a very extreme degree. One thing I see often from right-wing celebrities or influencers like Donald Trump Jr. for example, is constantly tweeting “South Park” memes. That was the joke that “South Park” was making in 2005, and now it’s the view of the right.

Persons: FARHAD MANJOO, ” FARHAD MANJOO, Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, STEVEN CROWDER, Jackson, That’s, Brown, Donald Trump Jr, Garrison, ” Organizations: Global, Biden Locations: San Francisco

☆ Toyota defies skeptics as stock seals best week since 2009
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

DETROIT – Toyota Motor stock sealed its best week since 2009 on Friday, as the automaker laid out a robust plan for future all-electric vehicles and company scion Akio Toyoda became leader of the Japanese company's board. Shares of Toyota on the New York Stock Exchange closed Friday at $164.35 per share, down 2.3% for the day but still up 10.6% on the week. That 5-day gain is the stock's best week since April 2009 when shares increased 14.5%. It's only the third double-digit weekly gain in more than two decades for the relatively well-performing but mundane stock. Shares of the company are up 20% so far in 2023.

Persons: Akio Toyoda, Toyoda, Koji Sato Organizations: DETROIT, Toyota, New York Stock Exchange, Prius Prime Locations: EVs

☆ Toyota shares surge 5% after announcing plans for next-gen battery EVs
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Lim Hui Jie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In this article 7203.T-JP Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTA display of Toyota electrified vehicles at the 2022 New York Auto Show, April 13, 2022. Toyota has a goal of achieving sales of 1.5 million all-electric vehicles per year by 2026, and selling 3.5 million all-electric vehicles annually by 2030. Separately, the company is also developing a method for mass producing all-solid-state batteries for battery electric vehicles, and aims to commercialize this in 2027 to 2028. Toyota said it will be looking at a 20% improvement in cruising range for its all-solid-state batteries, compared to the current batteries. HEVs refer to hybrid electric vehicles, which are vehicles that are powered by a conventional internal combustion engine in combination with one or more electric motors.

Persons: Scott Mlyn, Koji Sato, Sato, Akio Toyoda Organizations: Toyota, York Auto Show, CNBC, Tesla, Nikkei

Toyota shares closed up 3.4%, outperforming the 1.2% gain in the Nikkei index (.N225). BOARD INDEPENDENCENew York City Comptroller Brad Lander said in a statement the Toyota board was not adequately independent. The New York comptroller's office oversees a pension system with $243 billion in assets under management. Those funds held 6.7 million shares in Toyota Group companies, including Toyota Boshoku (3116.T) and Toyota Tsusho (8015.T) as of end March. The New York pension system has also urged both Ford (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N) to move rapidly toward electrification and to disclose more about their lobbying on vehicle standards.

Persons: Akio Toyoda, Glass Lewis, Toyoda, CalPERS, Brad Lander, Daniel Leussink, David Dolan, Maki Shiraki, Kevin Krolicki, Jamie Freed, Christopher Cushing, Leslie Adler Organizations: Toyota Motor Corp, California Public Employees, New York, Toyota, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nikkei, The, Toyota Group, Ford, General Motors, Lexus, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, New York City, York, Tokyo

One of them, Glass Lewis, recommended shareholders vote against re-electing Toyoda, citing what it said was his responsibility for the lack of a sufficiently independent board. CalPERS, which declined to comment, is the largest U.S. public pension fund with some $450 billion in assets under management. The New York City pension funds held 6.7 million shares in Toyota Group companies, including Toyota Boshoku (3116.T) and Toyota Tsusho (8015.T) as of end March. BOARD INDEPENDENCENew York City Comptroller Brad Lander said the Toyota board was not adequately independent, in a statement explaining the vote by the funds it oversees. The New York pension system has also urged both Ford (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N) to move rapidly toward electrification and to disclose more about their lobbying on vehicle standards.

Persons: Akio Toyoda, Glass Lewis, Toyoda, CalPERS, Brad Lander, Daniel Leussink, David Dolan, Maki Shiraki, Kevin Krolicki, Jamie Freed, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Toyota Motor Corp, California Public Employees, New York, Toyota, Tokyo Stock Exchange, The, New, Toyota Group, Nikkei, Ford, General Motors, Lexus, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, New York City, York, Tokyo

☆ Toyota's April global sales rise on stronger demand in Japan, China
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Toyota Motor Corp FollowTOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) global sales rose by nearly 5% in April from a year earlier, boosted by stronger demand for hybrids and gasoline-powered cars in Japan and China. The Japanese automaker also reported better overseas sales of battery electric vehicles (EVs), bringing the total number of battery-powered units it sold in the first four months of the year above last year's level. In China, Toyota saw sales jump 46.3% to 162,554 units in April compared to the same month a year earlier, rebounding from the previous year's pandemic-related hit. In April, the automaker sold 8,584 battery EVs worldwide, including its Lexus brand, accounting for more than 1% of its global sales in a single month for the first time. That brought the total number of battery-powered vehicles it sold in January-April to 26,057 units, higher than the 24,466 battery EVs the company sold in 2022.

☆ Not enough resources for EVs to be only cleaner car option, Toyota says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Some investors and environmental groups have long criticised Toyota (7203.T) for being slow to embrace BEVs, saying it has lagged Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and others amid growing global demand. Gill Pratt, chief executive of the Toyota Research Institute, told reporters that BEVs could make a positive difference in reducing climate change in countries such as Norway, which has a lot of renewable infrastructure. But in other parts of the world, where coal is still used to produce power, hybrids were better for CO2 emissions, he added. "But it's going to take decades for battery material mines, renewable power generation, transmission lines and seasonal energy-storage facilities to scale up." BEVs are "one very important option" for achieving carbon neutrality and hydrogen is as well, Toyoda, who currently is chairman of Toyota, told reporters earlier on Thursday.

☆ Toyota’s Hybridized EV Strategy Is Expensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Stephen Wilmot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The 2023 Toyota Prius Prime at the Washington, D.C. Auto Show. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Zuma PressOnly a company as large as Toyota can still afford to hedge its bets on the future of cars. The Japanese manufacturing giant said Wednesday that its operating income would grow 10% to a record 3 trillion yen, equivalent to about $22.2 billion at the current exchange rate, in the fiscal year through March 2024. The reason is a 10% recovery in vehicle deliveries as semiconductor supplies normalize following pandemic shortages.

Toyota's board on Wednesday recommended that shareholders vote against the resolution, to be put to the company's annual general meeting in June. On Wednesday Toyota said it expects a five-fold jump in pure electric vehicle (EV) sales this business year. "We need concrete policy changes and a better annual review drawing on independent data to calm international investors." LONG ENGAGEMENTIt will be the first time that Toyota faces such a climate-related resolution at its annual general meeting, the funds said. It first planned to submit a shareholder proposal in 2021, but withdrew that after it received assurances that Toyota would review its climate lobbying.

☆ Man Who Crashed Into Teens After Doorbell Prank Is Found Guilty of Murder
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The boy rang the doorbell and returned to the Prius they were riding in, and the group drove off. Three boys, Daniel Hawkins, Jacob Ivascu and Drake Ruiz, were killed, the authorities said. The driver, Sergio Campusano, then 18, and two other boys, Joshua Hawkins, then 13, and Joshua Ivascu, then 14, were injured. He also testified that he had drunk 12 bottles of beer on the night of the crash, the newspaper reported. “The murder of these young men was a horrendous and senseless tragedy for our community,” Mike Hestrin, the Riverside County district attorney, said in an emailed statement.

☆ Toyota Pitches a New Prius as Plug-In Hybrids Battle EVs for Share
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( River Davis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Toyota’s 2023 Prius Prime plug-in is capable of driving up to 44 miles on a battery alone. Photo: Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesToyota Motor Corp. is getting ready to bring its latest plug-in hybrid model to American showrooms next month, a part of the company’s bet that plug-ins can be the bridge between traditional cars and electric vehicles. Toyota, Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. are among global brands rolling out new plug-in hybrid gas-electric cars. While most hybrids on the road today combine gas engines with electric motors to save fuel, plug-in hybrids can drive primarily on batteries—with the engine as a backup—making them the closest thing to a full EV on the road.

[1/6] Tundra trucks and Sequoia SUV's exit the assembly line as finished products at Toyota's truck plant in San Antonio, Texas, U.S. April 17, 2023. TOYOTA'S PAST SUCCESSWashington's push to accelerate the shift to battery-electric vehicles amplifies the threat posed by Tesla to Toyota's position as the world's largest automaker. Toyota San Antonio has weathered a series of challenges since it built its first truck in 2006. The future for factories like Toyota San Antonio will play out across the next several years. Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in San Antonio, Texas, Joseph White in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington Written by Joseph White Editing by Ben Klayman and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

TOKYO, April 7 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said on Friday it aims to introduce 10 new battery electric vehicle models by 2026 - a long awaited ramp-up in an area that the Japanese automaker has been slow to embrace. Investors have long argued that Toyota has not been fast enough in developing a battery-powered vehicle line-up, instead favouring hybrids like its pioneering Prius. Toyota has countered that a mix of options - including gasoline-electric hybrids, makes more sense for its global customer base. New chief executive Koji Sato said Toyota would speed up in battery electrics but added that hybrids would remain an important pillar of its business. Toyota is targeting annual production of 1.5 million battery-powered cars by 2026, Chief Technology Officer Hiroki Nakajima told the briefing.

☆ These are the best electric and hybrid cars of 2023 for every type of buyer, from luxury sedans to family SUVs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. News & World Report released a list of best electric and hybrid cars Wednesday. U.S. News evaluated 107 vehicles based on rankings, starting price, charging rate, and more. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyU.S. News & World Report released its list of best electric and hybrid cars Wednesday. The Lexus ES Hybrid, Kia EV6, Hyundai Tucson Plug-In Hybrid, Toyota Prius, and Lucid Air each secured the second consecutive win in their award categories. Best Electric Truck was a new category this year.

☆ Toyota's new Prius is the best argument yet for hybrids
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —After I parked a new 2023 Toyota Prius and walked away, I turned around to look at it. How could hybrids, vehicles that burn gasoline, reduce greenhouse gas emissions more than vehicles that burn no gasoline at all?. reducing emissions rather than just acting as an inducement to buy an electric car, pointed out Jason Keller, Toyota’s director of dealer policy in the US. Prices for the Toyota Prius, for instance, start at just $27,000, a price only a few electric vehicles, like the Chevrolet Bolt, can approach. Lexus, Toyota’s luxury brand, is expected to sell only electric vehicles by 2030.

☆ Toyota to ramp up on batteries, keep its options open, new CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Koji Sato, who was named as new CEO of Toyota Motor Corp, attends Tokyo Auto Salon 2023 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, east of Tokyo, Japan January 13, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonCompanies Toyota Motor Corp FollowLexus FollowTOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) will ramp up its battery-electric offerings by focusing on its Lexus luxury brand, its incoming chief executive said on Monday, but the company will not deviate from a long held strategy of exploring other technologies. Toyota, which popularised the hybrid technology of the Prius, has said that hybrids make better sense for many drivers, especially in markets where the infrastructure is not ready to support batteries. Sato said Toyota would accelerate its battery-electric offerings by focusing on the Lexus. While he oversaw the creation of Lexus's first fully electric model, he has previously spoken of keeping open other options for powering vehicles.

☆ Toyota's Q3 profit jumps 22% as weak yen helps
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Daniel Leussink | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Operating profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 was 956.7 billion yen ($7.28 billion). That beat the average 764.54 billion yen profit estimated by 10 analysts, according to Refinitiv data. In the same period a year earlier, Toyota reported a 784.4 billion yen profit. While it trimmed its annual production target by about 1%, to around 9.1 million vehicles, it stuck to its forecast for annual profit of 2.4 trillion yen for the year to end-March. The automaker is likely to comfortably exceed that forecast, given that it has now delivered 2.1 trillion yen in the first nine months of the year, said Koji Endo, senior analyst at SBI Securities.

☆ Toyota Rethinks EV Strategy With New CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( River Davis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Toyota ’s chief executive always said he wasn’t a skeptic about electric vehicles—he was a realist. Longtime CEO Akio Toyoda called himself a spokesman for “a silent majority” of people in the auto industry who questioned a single-minded focus on EVs. He argued that hybrid gas-electric vehicles like Toyota’s Prius could be just as environmentally friendly, and said other companies were pushing consumers to make a leap into EVs that they might not be ready for, without a charging infrastructure fully in place.

The 66-year-old Toyoda on Thursday announced he would step aside as leader of the company his grandfather founded from April 1 to take the role of chairman. He will hand over to Koji Sato, the 53-year-old head of Toyota's luxury Lexus brand. "It's likely that he'll remain active as chairman for a long time and continue to put his mark on Toyota." "Toyota is a public company that likes to pretend it's a family company," said John Shook, a former Toyota manager who now consults on the lean management techniques pioneered by the automaker. "Choosing someone who is much younger and with Sato's background indicates Akio recognised the time for change had come."

TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) chief Akio Toyoda is set to remain a dominant force inside the world's largest automaker for years to come, and will continue to influence the agenda after stepping down in April, experts and people familiar with the firm said. The 66-year-old Toyoda on Thursday announced he would step aside as leader of the company his grandfather founded from April 1 to take the role of chairman. "It's likely that he'll remain active as chairman for a long time and continue to put his mark on Toyota." "Toyota is a public company that likes to pretend it's a family company," said John Shook, a former Toyota manager who now consults on the lean management techniques pioneered by the automaker. "Choosing someone who is much younger and with Sato's background indicates Akio recognised the time for change had come."

☆ Toyota Needs a New EV Road Map
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Stephen Wilmot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Toyota President Akio Toyoda recently said the car maker is looking at rolling out a dedicated manufacturing platform for electric vehicles. Toyota ‘s incoming boss has a big decision to make on electric vehicles. The world’s largest car maker by sales said Thursday that its President Akio Toyoda would move into the chairman role in April, leaving Lexus President Koji Sato to run the company. The unexpected move was prompted by the decision by current Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada to retire. Celebrated as the father of the Prius, Mr. Uchiyamada said he saw the need for “generational change.”

☆ Timeline: Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda to step down after 14 years at the helm
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here's a chronology of key events and milestones in Toyota's history under Toyoda, the 66-year-old grandson of the company's founder. "CRISIS AFTER CRISIS"In June 2009, Toyoda became the president of the company his grandfather Kiichiro founded in 1937, replacing Katsuaki Watanabe. Akio was the first member of Toyoda family to take the helm since 1995. The safety crisis, which forced Toyoda to testify before Congress in 2010, threatened Toyota’s reputation and continued success in its most profitable market. Toyoda said on Thursday his term at the helm started with "crisis after crisis."

☆ Koji Sato, incoming Toyota CEO, must navigate shift to clean energy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Sakura Murakami | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Currently the CEO of Toyota's luxury brand Lexus, Sato will succeed Akio Toyoda as the CEO of Toyota on April 1. Under Toyoda, the automaker has followed a go-slow approach to electric vehicles, arguing that the hybrid technology it pioneered with the Prius will remain important along with investments in hydrogen. Sato started his career at Toyota in 1992, before rising through the ranks to become chief engineer of Lexus International in 2016, according to his profile on the Toyota website. That passion was obvious in a brief video clip released in 2021, where Sato sits next to Toyoda as they test-drive a Toyota Lexus. As Toyoda accelerates and whoops excitedly, Sato can be seen with a wide grin and occasionally laughing, unable to contain his delight.

According to the document, Aramco's investment would be used to support development of decarbonization technologies for gasoline engines. SUBJECT TO BOARD APPROVALSThe oil company's deal with Geely and Renault still needs approval by the boards of the automakers, one of the people said. For Geely, the deal with Renault extends its pattern of building partnerships to expand beyond China. In that kind of arrangement, gasoline engines could be designed to operate in an "exceptionally efficient mode," one of the sources said. Geely has a previously announced a hybrid gasoline engine development deal with Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) and holds a stake in the German automaker.

☆ Toyota is investing $35 billion into EVs. But some say it may be too late.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Robert Ferris | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The world's largest automaker, Toyota , is battling criticism it is behind rivals on electric vehicles, and is even working to try and block the transition to zero-emission electric fleets. It introduced the Prius, the world's mainstream hybrid vehicle in 1997. But in the meantime, other automakers, spurred by ever stricter government regulation and the success of newcomers like Tesla , began investing in fully electric vehicles. "We still think that in 10 years, 50% of new vehicle sales will be gasoline," said Mike Ramsey, a vice president in Gartner's CIO Research Group. Watch the video to learn more about Toyota's singular approach to electric vehicle manufacturing.

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