Toyota CEO and scion of the Toyota family Akio Toyoda has for long been against electric vehicles, and now he has again spoken against them and claimed that many jobs could be lost if the market went all in on EVs. He estimated 5.5 million jobs could be lost and 8 million units of output could be lost by 2030. He said this at a meeting of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) where he was joined with executives from companies like Honda, Yamaha and Isuzu. He also said that the green manufacturing goals that Europe has proposed has inspired regulators in Japan but he believed that these are unsustainable. The Japanese government has plans of achieving net carbon neutrality by 2050 by going all in on EVs and banning cars based on the internal combustion engine.
"Japan is an export-reliant country. Thus, carbon neutrality is tantamount to an issue of employment for Japan. Some politicians are saying that we need to turn all cars into EVs or that the manufacturing industry is an outmoded one. But I don't think that is the case. To protect the jobs and lives of Japanese people, I think it is necessary to bring our future in line with our efforts so far," he said.
He added that organisations will either be forced to shift production of internal combustion engine cars abroad or end it altogether. That would cost major jobs cuts.
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"This means that production of more than 8 million units would be lost, and the automotive industry could risk losing the majority of 5.5 million jobs. If they say internal combustion engines are the enemy, we would not be able to produce almost any vehicles," he proclaimed.
Toyoda argued that there should be more freedom on what technologies should be used as long as there is an overall reduction happening.
"In achieving carbon neutrality, the enemy is carbon dioxide, not internal combustion. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it is necessary to have practical and sustainable initiatives that are in line with different situations in various countries and regions," he argued.
He even said hybrid vehicles would have a significant contribution in achieving carbon neutrality. He believes that as they were cheaper than EVs as they would have wider penetration because of them being cheaper.
