Toyota Australia's head of sales and marketing, Son Hanley, believes that the diesel engine remains relevant, especially for heavy vehicles such as trucks and SUVs. He also notes that for diesels to remain popular, they must meet increasingly stringent emissions regulations. In this regard, Toyota recently launched the Hilux pickup truck in the Australian market with a hybrid version of its turbodiesel.
The company is also not ruling out the creation of internal combustion engines fuelled by synthetic diesel. At the same time, Toyota is exploring the possibility of using hydrogen as an alternative fuel for internal combustion engines, as demonstrated in the GR Yaris and GR Corolla prototypes. A couple of months ago, Toyota Motor CEO Akio Toyoda announced that a new family of internal combustion engines is in development, signalling the company's intention to sell cars with conventional engines in the long term.
Furthermore, Akio Toyoda believes that the market share of purely electric cars will never exceed 30 per cent, with the remaining 70 per cent being internal combustion engines powered by petrol and diesel. The already mentioned synthetic fuels and hydrogen are seen as greener alternatives.
According to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, electric vehicles surpassed diesel sales in the EU for the first time in 2023, accounting for 14.6 per cent of total deliveries. Hybrids were also much more popular than diesel cars, accounting for 25.8 per cent. Plug-in hybrids accounted for 7.7 per cent of sales.
Source: Drive
