On Monday, investors brushed aside worries about the current state of international trade and pushed up the stock of Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor (TM 2.34%). The company announced a significant expansion of its electric vehicle (EV) portfolio and indicated it would start to produce such models in its U.S. factories. Toyota's shares closed the day more than 1% higher on a generally down day for stocks.
Accelerating EV development
Sunday night, Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia said Toyota plans to have roughly 15 EV models developed on its own by 2027, which would be a considerable expansion of its current lineup of five models. By that year, it aims to produce approximately 1 million such vehicles, which would be seven times the level of 2024 production.
The brief article, which did not cite any sources, added that Toyota will produce EVs not only in its native Japan but also in China, elsewhere in Asia, and the Americas. The newspaper did not get more specific. Currently, the company's EVs are only manufactured in China and Japan.
Toyota refused to comment on the report, saying that it did not announce any of the information in it.
An appealing customer base
While EV sales growth has been disappointing for the technology's bulls, it's still in positive territory. There are many consumers around the world who are willing to commit to such models in order to help make this planet a greener place, so Toyota's deepening commitment to the segment feels like the right move.
We'll need more specifics on this initiative, however, to better judge how it might impact the company's fundamentals.
