Toyota’s U.S.-built EVs might be coming a year later than planned.
On Tuesday, Nikkei reported the start of production a new three-row electric SUV at a plant in Kentucky won’t take place until 2026.
In 2023 Toyota announced production of the electric three-row SUV would start in 2025.
The delayed production is attributed to the slowing of EV sales, according to Nikkei.
The Kentucky plant was said to be getting a $1.3 billion investment to prepare it for EV production.
Nikkei reported that Toyota adjusted the vehicle’s design and that played a factor in pushing the start of production.
Plans to produce Lexus electric SUVs in the U.S. have been canceled, according to Nikkei. Electric Lexus SUVs will now be produced in Japan and shipped to the U.S. market.
In 2023 Toyota announced it would step up its electric lineup with 10 new EVs ranging from luxury vehicles to compact cars and commercial vehicles. These models would be “mainly in the United States and China,” according to the automaker.
The EV lineup was to get Toyota to the company’s target of 1.5 million battery electric sales by 2026 as a “base volume.” Yet as of 2021 Toyota anticipated that 85% of its U.S. vehicles sold in 2030 would still have tailpipes.
Nikkei reported that Toyota’s scaled back its EV sales ambitions with a new target of 1 million EVs. That represents about 10% of Toyota’s current annual sales.
Toyota spokesperson Scott Vazin told Reuters the automaker plans to introduce five to seven EVs in the U.S. over the next two years.
