Toyota Aims to Launch Next-Gen EVs in 2026

Tokyo, Feb. 13 (Jiji Press)--Toyota Motor Corp. <7203> aims to launch in 2026 next-generation electric vehicles under the Lexus luxury brand by revamping the design and production systems, incoming President Koji Sato said Monday.

Toyota has already announced its plan to make all Lexus vehicles electric-powered by 2035.

"We need a slightly different approach from the conventional combustion-oriented vehicle manufacturing," Sato, Toyota's chief branding officer and Lexus head, told a press conference. He will succeed Akio Toyoda as president and chief executive officer of the world's leading automaker on April 1.

"Now the time is ripe" for making batteries, platforms and production methods "best suited" for battery electric vehicles, or BEVs, Sato noted.

Toyota will disclose details in April or later.

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