I Am Calling It. If Toyota’s Leadership Doesn’t Show a Massive Shift In Attitude Toward Electric Vehicles In the Next Year, They Are Going To Be Done. Let’s Examine How This Statement From a Leading EV Advocate In 2020 Has Aged Over Five Years

Back in 2020, Electrek’s Editor-in-Chief and co-founder, Fred Lambert, published a well-crafted rant titled, Toyota CEO shows lack of vision, spreads EV misinformation, and spells the end for the automaker. The story had some factual errors, but for the most part, it relied on the author’s opinions to make a very bold claim. Mr. Lambert said,

I am calling it. If Toyota’s leadership doesn’t show a massive shift in attitude toward electric vehicles in the next year, they are going to be done.

Let’s examine this prediction to see how well it is aging. 

Toyota’s Background Related To Green Vehicles and Battery-Only Vehicles 
Toyota has taken a holistic approach to green vehicles it calls "multi-path." No brand and no company offers a wider selection of green vehicle choices. No full-line manufacturer has surpassed Toyota’s battery-electric vehicle sales, and Toyota offers a wide range of technologies to reduce emissions, including: 

• Battery-electric vehicles
• Plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles
• Hybrid-electric vehicles
• Fuel cell electric vehicles

In addition to being the global automaker with the most electrified models by far, Toyota was also the company that first introduced a battery-electric crossover in America. That helps us point out one of Mr. Lambert’s factual mistakes in the story he penned in 2020. He said, “Toyota has yet to launch an all-electric vehicle outside of China.” Factually, Toyota launched its RAV4 EV in 1997. It followed up the first-generation RAV4 EV with a second-generation RAV4 EV in 2012. These were built for the American market and, like most of Tesla’s models, were launched in the California marketplace, which is where the nation’s green vehicle customers are concentrated. 

Things are changing these days at Electrek. The aptly named EV advocacy publication was once a staunch Tesla supporter. However, today, it is publishing wave after wave of negative Tesla stories. Under a story this week at Electrek highlighting Tesla’s 60% drop in European sales, a commenter wrote, “Fred is in between the permanent Kubler-Ross stages of grief: Denial and Anger. His continuous Musk rage posts are both comedic and embarrassing.”

Toyota’s Results Over the Past 5 Years
In the year prior to the one in which Mr. Lambert predicted Toyota’s downfall, Toyota was the world’s number two automaker in terms of deliveries. Volkswagen Group was number one, with 10.97 million vehicles sold. Toyota came in at around 10.74. Shortly after Mr. Lambert made his dire prediction that Toyota would be “done” if the company didn’t adopt his philosophy that all consumers’ needs could be served with one powertrain style, Toyota moved into the number one position among all automakers. Here is the listing of the top automakers in the world over the years since Mr. Lambert predicted Toyota’s downfall due to its philosophy of offering a wide selection of green vehicles. As you can see, Toyota has been the number one company in the industry for five straight years:

• 2019 - Volkswagen
• 2020 - Toyota
• 2021 - Toyota
• 2022 - Toyota
• 2023 - Toyota
• 2024 - Toyota

Since the prediction by Mr. Lambert, Toyota has been the world’s most successful automaker in terms of global deliveries. Let’s examine some additional metrics since total deliveries are just one measure of an automaker’s dominance. 

In December 2020, when Mr. Lambert made his prediction, Toyota’s stock price was at $138 per share on the New York Stock Exchange. Today, its stock is valued at $191. So, in that time, the stock has gained approximately 38% in value. While there have certainly been stocks that have seen larger gains, this is a large-cap blue-chip style of stock. Toyota stock also pays shareholders a dividend. 

Toyota US Market Deliveries 2019 vs 2024
Looking at Toyota’s market share in America, we can see that in 2019, Toyota was the third-best-selling automaker in America. Today, Toyota is in second place. Ford was number one in both years. So, in the U.S. market, Toyota has gained market share, passing General Motors over that period. Notably, Toyota was the largest seller of “passenger vehicles.” In other words, if commercial trucks are excluded, Toyota is number one. 

Toyota’s Electrified Vehicle Mix In America 2024
As 2024 ended, Toyota had the widest selection of electrified vehicles in America. It offered minivans, trucks in two segments, sedans in five segments, numerous crossovers in various sizes, SUVs, and sports cars with electrified powertrains. Notably, Toyota has moved many models to electrified-only powertrains, dropping the liquid-fuel-only option in its iconic Camry and Sienna. The Prius was offered in two types of electrified powertrains, including plug-in and AWD. “Our multi-pathway powertrain approach continues to attract customers, meeting their lifestyles and budgets,” said Jack Hollis, executive vice president and chief operating officer, TMNA. Toyota sold over 1 million electrified vehicles in America in 2024, up by half over 2023 with a total take rate by consumers of 43.1% of total sales volume. 

Toyota’s European Results
In Europe, Toyota’s multi-path powertrain philosophy resulted in Toyota passing 6 million vehicles total sold in the European marketplace. A whopping 74% of the total deliveries by Toyota were electrified in 2024. 

Toyota’s Chinese Market Results 2024
In 2024, Toyota became the second-leading foreign automaker operating in China. It closed its gap with General Motors. Toyota delivered just under 2 million vehicles in China in 2024. By contrast, Tesla delivered less than 700,000. 

Summary - Toyota’s Multi-path Powertrain Plan Has Delivered Growth and Success
In summary, Toyota is now the leading automaker in the world due to its multi-path plan for powertrains. Over the past five years, Toyota has made market share gains Globally, in America, Europe, and even China compared to other foreign automakers. It is hard to imagine Toyota having done better with an all-electric powertrain line since there is literally no higher position than number one. Toyota is not “done,” as Electrek predicted it would be. Instead, it’s become number one among all automakers. 

John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools.