Toyota’s CEO-to-be outlines leadership team bullish on EVs

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Koji Sato, appointed the next president at Japan’s top automaker Toyota, has outlined a management team that he says will lead an aggressive push on electric vehicles. Sato said Toyota will develop a next-generation Lexus brand electric vehicle by 2026. Toyota also plans to beef up all its EV models. The new leadership takes the helm on April 1. Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid, has at times been seen as lagging its rivals in EVs. Toyota officials have always said they have BEV technology, which stands for “battery electric vehicles,” or pure EVs. But that market has so far been dominated by the likes of Tesla, Japanese automaker Nissan and BYD of China.