Toyota pushes production of first US-made electric SUV into 2026

TOYOTA Motor is delaying the production start for its first US-made electric vehicle (EV) until 2026, but says it plans to sell as many as seven all-EVs in the US within the next two years.

The Japanese carmaker initially targeted late next year to begin output of a three-row, battery-powered SUV at an assembly plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, but a company spokesperson said on Wednesday (Oct 2) that has slipped by a few months into the following year.

Toyota is still committed to making the as-yet-unnamed SUV in Kentucky from early 2026 and another unspecified all-electric SUV at a factory in Princeton, Indiana, starting later that year, he said.

The planned expansion of Toyota’s EV lineup in the US from the current two vehicles to as many as seven comes at a time when demand for battery-powered vehicles has slowed. The US rollout is part of a broader goal to sell 1.5 million EVs globally by 2026. To help reach that, Toyota is building a lithium-ion battery plant in North Carolina that is expected to start up in 2025.

In February, Toyota said it would spend US$1.3 billion to tool up its Kentucky factory for EV production, then in April followed up with an announcement to invest US$1.4 billion in the Indiana facility for a second EV.

Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported the delay in EV production at the Kentucky plant earlier Wednesday, adding Toyota also has cancelled plans to produce a Lexus brand SUV in North America by 2030.

The company currently sells two fully electric models in the US – the five-seat Toyota bZ4X and Lexus RZ 450e – both of which are manufactured in Japan. BLOOMBERG