(Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. plans to manufacture electric vehicle batteries in Fukuoka and export them from Japan’s southernmost island to the rest of Asia, the Nikkei reported, without attribution.
The Japanese carmaker’s subsidiary, Primearth EV Energy, will operate the factory after it is built using some government subsidies, according to the report.
Toyota is “engaged in various efforts to improve our production capacity of electric vehicle batteries,” a spokesperson told Bloomberg, although the company declined to comment on the Nikkei report.
Toyota last year pledged to sell 1.5 million battery EVs annually by 2026, and 3.5 million by 2030. The world’s top carmaker has long been criticized for its hesitation to embrace EVs, with environmental advocates and activist investors citing that as the main reason it’s fallen behind global frontrunners including China’s BYD Co. and Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc.
Toyota has been touting its luxury brand Lexus as the centerpiece of its EV strategy, which has wavered in recent months due to a rebound in the popularity of hybrids and aggressive competition in China.
The new plant would be located near Toyota’s Miyata plant, which makes 430,000 vehicles annually under the Lexus brand, a majority of which are exported.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
