Discussions on the future of Toyota’s Burnaston plant are set to begin at the end of this year, with the lack of battery plant investment in the UK highlighted as the biggest “challenge” that must be overcome as the firm weighs up switching it to EV production.
Outlining the timeline for discussions and the issues that must be addressed, Matt Harrison, chief operating officer at Toyota Motor Europe, said: “There are some challenges for the UK. Brexit less so: that adds one or two complications, but we think they can be overcome, although we need to study the rules of origin now in more detail. But the battery investments and where they're going in Europe is an issue. The centre of gravity seems to be central Europe, and the UK hasn't been so successful so far.”
Harrison underlined that there was still time to evaluate the situation as a result of Toyota's success with hybrid sales - but stressed that proposed mandates to rapidly scale the proportion of EVs sold from 22% to 80% by 2030 in the UK would bring added pressure to the decision-making process.
“People say we're slow to move, but the truth is we’re in a different situation from our rivals," he said. "They're switching from combustion engine to electric; we're going from hybrid to electric. We’re in a position to hit our [environmental] targets comfortably and still follow, watching the strategy of others, digesting it and understanding.
“But if the market is 80% electric vehicles in 2030, that leaves us with only 20% of the market to offer hybrid to. That’s a very different situation to the rest of Europe.
“We don’t have an objection to the mandates, but we could be picky and say that - from a consumer’s perspective - starting the mandate so high and then having only 20% of the market open to hybrid by 2030 is a little concerning.
“We will have enough electric products on sale by then to hit the target - no problem. But the ideal would have been to set the bar a little lower in the early years. Toyota’s commitment to reducing CO2 is well documented; we will be ready for 100% zero emissions sales in 2035. But we’re doing that as quickly as possible with as many products as possible, not just EVs, which are the UK government’s obsession.
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