Toyota Motor Corp. vowed to be ready to sell only zero-emission cars in Europe by 2035, a surprise pledge that aligns the world’s biggest automaker with the world’s most ambitious climate plan.
The Japanese giant also set a new intermediate goal for at least half its sales in Western Europe to be zero-emission vehicles by the end of the decade. That’s a big step up from the roughly 10% sales mix expected in 2025.
While the objectives align Toyota with green deal measures the European Union proposed in July, the company qualified its 2035 view by saying it assumes the bloc will have sufficient infrastructure in place for battery recharging and hydrogen refueling. EU member states are already wrangling over an end date for combustion engines, with France advocating for plug-in hybrids to be allowed for longer and Italy seeking to shield supercars from the phase-out.