I'm glad they changed their minds about not going electric after making such statements a few months ago.

But as big as Toyota is, they're in the fight of their lives against state-subsidized Chinese automakers who have a massive head start making the next generation of vehicles.

Now Honda....

Too late, I think. China is going to beat their pricing everywhere except for the US, and Korean auto brands have already flooded the US market. I'm sure they'll sell some, but they could have had a huge chunk of the market if they had gotten off of their hydrogen crap. They already had great hybrids, they didn't need to go much further to just start producing BEVs.

Wtf is that dashboard supposed to be???? The middle screen is by the passenger, completely out of reach for the driver. Good luck turning up the heat while driving...

They saw the genius design of the Model 3's centered screen and said "hold my beer".

its a concept car. those never get produced and always are shareholder pipedreams

Not that much worse than every new car really. Mount a stupid tablet in the middle (but yes, painfully way away on this model) and call it a day.

Car designers truly have lost the plot. Cheap bullshit.

I came to the conclusion the only answer is a " hey AI turn up hear or sound". Terrible.

All they had to do was make the car electric. Knobs dont run on tiny explosions.

Yeah this is true. I feel like the Chinese cars are pretty jank, and the fact that the cars are mostly software and the Chinese carmakers are kind of bad at it is to the detriment of the Chinese cars. If someone had better software, I'd pay more for it. The problem: This is "sudden unexplained acceleration" Toyota we're talking about.

That is a dedicated passenger screen. BMW is now doing that on some of their cars.

BMW now has cars with a third screen just for the passenger.

i'm not sure what you think i said so i cannot reply to you as that would lead to a rather silly and annoying discussion

Korean auto brands have already flooded the US market

Hyundai/Kia new EV sales in the US in 2025 was about 108,000. source

Toyota sold about 248,000 new Corollas in North America in 2025. source

Or, put another way, Toyota sold over 2.5 million new cars in North America while total EV sales in the US were about 1.3 million.

There's plenty of room for new entrants to compete in the US EV market, and probably Canada.

Also, Toyota is committing to competing globally against the Chinese automakers. They're building out a new factory in Shanghai to produce the EV version of the Lexus ES, an electrified version of one of their best selling sedans (and also a major part of their EV strategy in North America).

They have more time than any traditional automaker to get it right, because they already have the current profits to be able to build things out. They're late to the game, but this competition will still play out for decades.

People refuse to buy non-Toyota because of reputation built 20+ years ago.

People claim Toyotas extensive experience with hybrid drivetrains will help them build a better EV.

Neither of these things are relevant in their ability to build an EV today, but they will be factors in selling Toyota EVs. Toyota has spent decades chasing dead hydrogen technology and despite early start with hybrid, their PHEV cars (which amount to a charger and bigger battery) have been really late to the game, to say nothing of their lacklustre and late EVs. People will buy Toyota before a technologically superior Kia simply because of the badge (and associated historical reliability), but I don’t think Toyota will be able to compete with Chinese cars which are technologically superior and significantly cheaper.

One area that I’m not sure that Chinese EVs are comparable is in repairability and longevity. They move fast and optimize for manufacturing, and that may carry over into relatively disposable vehicles. A $20k new car is wonderful but if it has a 5 year lifespan it is more expensive than a traditional manufacturers offering with a standard 20 year lifespan at $40k.

I completely agree with you. The best I could find half a year ago was a Nissan Micra. I don't actually have to use the tablet while driving. Heating has buttons, which was a very big "must" for me.

the fact that the cars are mostly software and the Chinese carmakers are kind of bad at it is to the detriment of the Chinese cars. If someone had better software, I’d pay more for it.

This is true, but I don't trust the software in any other country's new cars either. I won't be buying any new car until I can get one with software that isn't proprietary.

The entirety of the inside is ridiculous. I’m not sure an idiot would even make that a reality.
I’d expect the inside to look like their current models. This would be doubly true for any Corolla as it’s their most approachable offering.

Up-front manufacturing expertise matters, but I really do think that Toyota has relevant expertise in some other areas that, as you mention, Chinese manufacturers haven't yet proven themselves.

First, ongoing maintenance and parts support is really important. There will be collisions. There will be wear and tear. The parts supply chain and maintenance/repair documentation remains an important part of a manufacturer's ongoing reputation for quality. As newer automakers mature, we'll see where each one shakes up in the overall rankings for ongoing support of 5, 10, or 20 year old vehicles.

Second, an interesting thing is how automakers refresh updates by model year or even model generations. Does launching a new generation move things smoothly as the older ones are sold off and the newer model starts to show up? Interestingly, Toyota has a gap developing right now as it moves the Highlander from ICE/hybrid to full EV, with an unexpected delay in production of the new assembly line, so that it might have no Highlanders available for sale for a few months. That's the kind of challenge that different automakers will need to deal with. Tesla refreshes its models slower than a lot of traditional automakers, and that might make a difference in long term competition.

And one big advantage Toyota has over most traditional automakers is that it has the suppliers and supply chains for millions of batteries and electric motors per year. They're smaller capacity (usually less than 5 kWh for hybrids and less than 10 kWh for plug-in hybrids) than a typical full EV battery (usually 50-100 kWh), but things like regenerative braking and electric motors are well within their engineering expertise.

Another big advantage that Toyota has over startups is its very deep pockets where it can draw on its current profits and revenue to take the time to get things right, without relying on external financing from investors. They have the financial runway to afford to make a few mistakes on the way.

It really is kind of crazy to think about how much time and money Toyota wasted on hydrogen vehicles.

There are so many die-hard Toyota fans that it is literally impossible for them to be too late. Me included. I have a Hyundai Inster only because in my region it was the best EV for the money I could get (almost non-existant used EV market), and because I had to get an EV in compliance with my values. But unless something drastically changes for the worse in terms of reliability for Toyota I am 100% buying a Toyota EV as my next car.

EDIT: I should add, my Inster after 7k km and 7-8 months has already had a failure of something called a Three-Way Valve, related to the cooling system. It was all covered by warranty but was in the shop for 2 weeks. I like the car but if it will keep the same frequency of issues it's not a very reliable car.

EDIT 2.0: If anyone has questions about my car I am happy to answer.

It's just a concept, so years before we can actually see one for real. That's bonkers.

There was actually a recall for the Inster over that issue. I don't think it's a reliability thing so much as just choosing the wrong part for the job in manufacturing. I wouldn't expect that sort of thing to happen again.

I was in an Inster recently. They're surprisingly roomy.

Just because they sold more ICE vehicles in a year does not mean they will be able to gain a majority of the EV market. Other auto makers have actual experience with EVs and EV sales, Toyota is entirely behind in that regard.

I don't deny that they will sell, I do deny that they will be able to quickly overtake the market from Korean auto makers in the US. They might get there eventually, but they created a massive mountain for themselves to climb. They could have been ahead of the curve, but decided to focus on a product line that would never feasibly take off.

My point isn't that they won't sell, my point is that they're late to the competition. EV and ICE designs are different, they require retooled factory lines, and significant investment. I'm sure they can eventually catch up, but they've got a lot of work to do.

As far as Canada goes, they'll also be competing with EU, US, and Chinese EV manufacturers as all of them sell there. That makes it a complicated situation for Toyota, they'll have to release decent vehicles at great prices.

That being said, the more EVs in the market, the better it will be for the consumer. I'm not complaining about them finally getting it together, basically, I'm just saying that it's about time.

I'm saying that you're holding up Korean brands as some kind of dominant sales leader, and they really aren't. For Q2 2026, Genesis (396), Hyundai (14,274), and Kia (7,348) add up to 22,018 EVs sold.

Toyota (11,826, up from 3,639 a year before) and Lexus (3,358, up from 2,325 a year before) is already more than halfway caught up at 15,184 for the quarter, and Toyota is now actually launching EV models that have the same model names as established, successful ICE/Hybrid models. The EV Lexus ES is cheaper than the gasoline powered counterpart, and the Highlander will launch the first EV under an established big-selling model name.

At this rate, I expect Toyota to outsell Hyundai/Kia in EVs maybe within a year. Before this next generation Corolla EV even launches.

Wonder if they'll still be the biggest republican donor automaker at that time, and how much that will affect their popularity

My intent was to say they're late to the party in a lot of markets and that gave other manufacturers an advantage. That is literally it. I'm really not sure why you have to keep stating the obvious.

You were making a claim that Toyota won't overtake the Korean manufacturers in the US anytime soon. I'm sharing data that shows that Toyota is already on the cusp of overtaking them by the end of this year, and might even overtake GM for #2 within a year after that.

EV sales are still unfortunately less than 10% of new car sales in the US. It's still early days for the US market, so being slow to market isn't going to be a significant disadvantage.

It's not the designers who want this I'm sure. Marketing and accounting. It's cheaper to manufacture and they can throw in a bigger number in the marketing materials

And hybrids.

20 years too late me.

Not gonna ride in any planes, trains, or boats then?

Riding in public transport isn't the same as buying a private vehicle.

What in the absolute fuck is that interior lol.

hybrids are the syit

let’s make good-looking cars that everyone will want to drive!”

No, Toyota. Your car's styling have never been their virtue. Reliability and common sense have.

That I don't doubt. I do, however, believe that Toyota (and the auto industry at large) become too comfortable with them and only invested in other, greener propulsion methods much later. Sure, they gave HFC (which is a cool technology) a try but ultimately went nowhere. Hybrids, while great on their own, was the auto industry's way of appearing green while keeping their pals at Big Oil happy.

I kind of like it, but I like pretty much every concept car interior!

But at first I had the exact same reaction.

high-tech interior 🙄

So true, Toyotas biggest mistake was not making the 2006 Toyota Corolla fully electric