Toyota, like BMW, has been outspoken about the need to slow down the transition away from internal combustion engines as we move toward carbon neutrality. Given that the infrastructure for EV charging is still inadequate in many parts of the world, it contends that there must be a variety of powertrains to let people choose the one that best suits their needs. Although there will be more electric vehicles, the Japanese carmaker is not yet ready to abandon the ICE.

The local sales and marketing manager discussed the path to electrification during a roundtable with journalists at the Corolla Cross Hybrid's launch event in an interview with the Australian magazine Drive.com.au. Toyota "is not opposed to battery-electric vehicles," according to Sean Hanley, but a variety of goods is the best course of action for the foreseeable future. He was talking about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and hybrids. By the end of the decade, all vehicles will be partially or fully electrified, with the exception of Gazoo Racing models.

Hanley claimed that "by 2030 every Toyota in our range, apart from GR performance cars, will have some form of electrification." This claim was made just a few weeks after the chief engineer of the GR86 claimed that there wouldn't be any more GR models in addition to the Yaris, Corolla, 86, and Supra. Will they all continue for the following seven years? Hopefully.

Toyota is aware of its target market, thus keeping with ICE-only powertrains will entice enthusiasts looking to purchase a performance car. Speaking of which, the six-cylinder GR Corolla finally received the manual transmission it deserved, and the powerful engine from the GR Corolla Morizo Edition will be transferred to the GR Yaris pocket rocket.

We are still missing one piece of the GR puzzle: What happened to the GR Super Sport? Given what the GR86's head engineer just said about limiting the GR line to four models, we wouldn't raise our expectations up too high. The last time we heard, which was in September 2021, the hypercar was a concept and Toyota was exploring the "possible commercialization."

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