Europe: In 2021 Toyota Significantly Increased Plug-In Car Sales

The volume quickly increased from marginal to noticeable and in Q4 exceeded 4% of the total.

By: Mark Kane

Jan 25, 2022 at 8:42am ET

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Toyota Motor Europe (Toyota and Lexus brands) reports that its total sales in 2021 amounted to 1,076,300 (up 8.4% year-over-year). That's 6.4% of the total European market - a new record for the Japanese group.

Out of that, hybrid car sales stand for 623,777 (up 19%), which means 58% of the total (70% in Western Europe).

The most important thing is that the plug-in car sales finally improved from a really low marginal level of 2,207 Prius Plug-in Hybrid in 2020, to a noticeable 32,677 in 2021 (3.0% of the total).

Q4 2021 was the best so far, with 8,952 plug-ins sold, which is 4.2% of the total volume. Mostly thanks to the Toyota RAV4 Prime and Toyota Proace Electric van. Meanwhile, sales of hydrogen fuel cell cars remain very low at barely 0.1% share.

Toyota Motor Europe (Toyota and Lexus brands) results in Q4 2021:

BEVs: 2,871 (1.4% share) - 1,670 Toyota and 1,201 Lexus
PHEVs: 6,081 (2.9% share) - all Toyota
Plug-ins: 8,952 (4.2% share) - 7,751 Toyota and 1,201 Lexus
FCVs: 194 (0.1% share)

With 32,677 plug-ins sold in 2021 and many new models in the pipeline, Toyota finally is switching towards rechargeable vehicles. For reference, in the U.S., the company sold over 52,000 plugs-ins.

Toyota Motor Europe (Toyota and Lexus brands) results in Q1-Q4 2021:

BEVs: 8,162 (0.8% share) - 5,175 Toyota and 2,987 Lexus
PHEVs: 24,515 (2.3% share) - all Toyota
Plug-ins: 32,677 (3.0% share) - 29,690 Toyota and 2,987 Lexus
FCVs: 701 (0.1% share)

Top models

Model rank:

Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid (aka Prius Prime) - 498 and 1,462 YTD (22% of all RAV4)
Toyota RAV4 Prime - 5,847 (19% of all RAV4) and 23,053 YTD (14% of all RAV4)
Toyota Proace Electric van - 1,670 and 5,175 YTD (17% of all Proace)
Toyota Mirai - 194 and 701 YTD
Lexus UX 300e - 1,201 (28% of all UX) and 2,987 YTD (14% of all UX)

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In 2022, the lineup will be joined by Lexus NX 450h+ plug-in hybrid and all-electric Toyota bZ4X.

Toyota has set important electrification targets:

Globally: 30 BEV models ("covering all segment") by 2030
Europe: 10 zero emission vehicle (ZEV) models by 2025
ZEV sales by 2030: at least 50% in Western Europe (including 100% Lexus)
ZEV sales by 2035: "ready for 100% CO2 reduction in all new vehicles within the EU region"

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) sales results in Europe - Q1-Q4 2021