Toyota South Africa planning to manufacture hybrid & electric Hilux vehicles

Toyota South Africa is now looking at manufacturing hybrid and electric Toyota Hilux versions but it is waiting for the go-ahead from the government.

Toyota South Africa Motors exports around 44% of total production from its Durban plant exported to Europe, and the company is set to face a tough challenge as that market increasingly moves to hybrids and battery electric vehicles (BEVs), said TSAM president and CEO Andrew Kirby.

“The transition in Europe [to electrified vehicles] is going to be quick, and if we want to retain those exports, we will have to adapt to manufacturing either a low- or zero-emission Hilux.

“This is a pressure point for us. It will have an enormous impact on us, the supply chain, and the economy, if we lose that market.”

With Europe aiming to ban internal combustion engines by 2035, strict emissions standards are expected to be rolled out in the run-up to this deadline.

The president also said the Japan headquartered company has, “as of today”, not found any production solution yet.

“We are working with the entities responsible for Hilux design in Japan and Thailand, and we are also looking at what we can do from a production point of view,” he added per Engineering News.

“From a business point of view, this is certainly one of the most critical challenges we face as a company.” 

Toyota in Japan will this year, most likely, decide where it will produce its forthcoming new-generation Hilux.

Any support TSAM will receive from the South African government in its product evolution to new-energy vehicles (NEVs) – fuel-cell vehicles, hybrids, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), and BEVs – remains unclear.

Kirby says the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition has indicated that there will be an announcement in February’s budget speech on the long-delayed support policy on the advancement of NEVs in South Africa.

He adds that TSAM is gearing up to sell as many NEVs locally as possible, despite the energy crisis and the limited number of charging stations – 276 at the moment.

“We don’t have all the answers yet, and we don’t have all the supply yet,” continued the president.

“[As noted], one of the challenges we have as a sector is that we don’t yet have a committed direction or support programme from the national government.

“And, as we don’t have a well-defined programme to support the manufacturing and sales of NEVs, we are not [seen] as a priority market for these scarce battery vehicles.”