Toyota Motor Corp. recently witnessed an exodus of green activist investors, which caused its share value to plummet. Bloomberg reported that the company’s shares were down more than 2 percent when opened for trading on Monday following various media reports of protests from environmentalists.
Activists claimed that Toyota’s lobbying efforts go against climate regulation for the industry. The automaker has taken that into consideration and will hold its annual shareholders’ meeting on Wednesday.
Previous Stance
Toyota has been openly critical of global electric vehicle (EV) normalization. The company states that it wants a “diversity of powertrains”, while heavily favoring the normalization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV) and hybrid cars.
Several industry experts have criticized Toyota’s staunch approach. Honda’s CEO, Toshihiro Mibe recently stated that its rival’s pursuit of FCVs is unfeasible.
He explained:
We have conducted research into every possibility that’s out there. As for hydrogen engines, we see some quite difficult technological challenges. So, about 10 years ago, we decided this would not become mainstream.
Toyota recently launched its first-ever pure EV in the market, dubbed the bZ4X. The EV has received critical acclaim based on its ride, build quality, and range of features. However, all car experts say that Toyota is “late to the party” and must pull out all the stops to cement its place in the growing EV market.
