One player stayed back, watching the smoke rise. Call it a masterclass in waiting for the “original sin” of the early EV hype to punish the impatient. While the Big Three, Honda, and the German giants were busy racking up a staggering $70 billion in impairments, Toyota was quietly sharpening its blades. Now, they’ve walked up to the table with nineteen electric models, a hybrid fortress that’s essentially a money-printing machine, and financial results that make the competition look like they’re running a lemonade stand.
While Stellantis becomes a cautionary tale of identity crisis, Toyota has chosen the exact moment to accelerate, hitting the market just as a new oil shock reminds everyone that batteries might actually be a good idea if you don’t go bankrupt building them.
We’re talking about a lineup that now boasts the bZ4x Touring, a battery-powered version of the indestructible Hilux, and a new RAV4, the SUV that basically pays for the company’s light bill. Sure, EVs are only 2.6% of their production right now, but when you’re moving 11 million units a year and banking nearly $20 billion in profit, you’re not “behind”. Even BYD, the supposed Chinese conqueror, is looking a bit winded with profits taking a 19% dive.
Enter the new CEO, Kenta Kon. If his mission is to “improve profitability,” he’s basically being asked to put more gold in a vault that’s already overflowing. Toyota remains the automotive equivalent of a high-end washing machine. It’s a brand that speaks exclusively to the left hemisphere of the brain, the rational, cold side, while the emotional right side is left wandering in the desert.
There is a brutal, authentic loyalty here. It’s the kind of devotion you see when a taxi driver sheds a literal tear retiring an Auris with 250,000 miles on the clock. In a world polarized between ICE-age reactionaries and EV maximalists, Toyota is the radical centrist. It is the triumph of common sense.
