Toyota underlines commitment to UK despite report of rumored rift

Toyota Motor Corp. isn't exiting vehicle production in the UK and has confirmed its commitment towards the British automotive industry. This after a newspaper report claimed that Toyota may stop manufacturing processes in the country owing to the government's plans of a fast-paced shift towards electric vehicles. While the UK government does have some very ambitious plans for the widespread acceptance of EVs, Toyota says it is ready to offer products with new technologies.

According to a Bloomberg report, Toyota stated that it is firmly committed to vehicle manufacturing processes in the UK and that it is entirely ready to offer only zero-emission vehicles here. The Japanese auto giant has also pointed to the transition towards hybrids as a key factor. Toyota plans to sell only zero-emission vehicles across Europe by 2035. The UK, in particular, has plans of banning sales of petrol or diesel vehicles post 2030, but allowing hybrid sales till 2035.

A Sunday Times report previously had stated that Toyota had warned Transport Secretary Grant Shapps of possibly stopping vehicle production in the UK but the company has now clarified that it shares UK's ambitions towards having a zero-emission vehicle population. Toyota had also announced plans of investing 240 million-pound ($315 million) into its central England plant in Burnaston. “We continue to see a role for many different technologies in the transition to zero emission based on the principle of mobility for all -- including the current hybrid vehicles built in the U.K.," Toyota said in the statement.

The transition towards EVs, however, isn't likely to be easy. This is because while there is a growing demand for such vehicles in many parts of the world, production and supply lines have been hit time and again - first by the pandemic, then by the chip shortage and now with the Russia-Ukraine war raging on.