Spectators at the Nascar Cup Series race in November had front-row seats for a debate over the auto industry’s future. A plane sponsored by nonprofit group Public Citizen flew past Phoenix Raceway carrying a banner: “Want exciting? Drive electric. Want boring? Drive Toyota.”
The flyby followed an open letter to Akio Toyoda, chief executive officer at the world’s largest carmaker, from groups including Public Citizen criticizing its slow rollout of electric vehicles. “No automaker has been able to keep up with the surging consumer demand for battery electric vehicles, but Toyota has not even attempted to meet it,” they wrote. “Toyota can and must shift swiftly to EVs or risk obsolescence.”
While the NGOs’ motivations were green ones, their message reflected a wider concern in the $2.25 trillion global automotive industry that Toyota Motor Corp. and other Japanese carmakers risk losing their leading position by failing to shift to EVs fast enough.
