Toyota’s annual meeting this year has turned into a showdown over the merits of longtime leader Akio Toyoda’s electric-vehicle strategy, which has been more cautious than some other automakers.
Shareholders including the New York City comptroller’s office, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, and a handful of European asset managers say they have voted or plan to vote to oust several Toyota directors including Toyoda from their board seats at the meeting Wednesday. [emphasis, links added]
While citing governance issues as one reason, they say their vote is also a protest against Toyoda’s policy of not setting a date by which the carmaker’s lineup will be all-electric.
“Toyota is failing to lean, like its peers, into a timely transition to an electric fleet,” said Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller.
“We want to be persuaded that there is a transition underway and that they’ll take meaningful steps toward an all-EV commitment.”
Toyoda, who became Toyota’s chairman in April after nearly 14 years as president, has been a rare voice of caution within the auto industry when it comes to EVs.
Toyoda says the world isn’t ready to go all-electric, citing problems such as inadequate charging infrastructure, shortages of battery materials, and the reliance of many nations on carbon-emitting fossil fuels for electricity.
Under new Chief Executive Koji Sato, Toyota is hastening its push into fully electric cars, though it hasn’t set a date for when its lineup will be all EV, in contrast to others including General Motors and Honda.
Toyota has sold more hybrid gas-electric vehicles than any other automaker and says hybrids can serve as a bridge between traditional cars and EVs.
Top photo screencap of Akio Toyoda
Read rest at WSJ
Liberals often seize control of assets that they don’t own and then use them to further their agendas. They seem to think that there is nothing morally wrong with this. If given a chance to vote, how many people under the California Public Employees’ Retirement System would support that group’s action?
It appears that the climate change movement has a two prong attack on fossil fuel vehicles. One is to have governments ban the sale of new cars. The other is to make sure they are not being manufactured so those living in jurisdictions that haven’t banned them still won’t be able to buy one.
Interesting that if anyone disagrees with the “free-thinking” progressives, they attack and silence instead of engage. Golly, isn’t that what totalitarian regimes do?
I would like to take these Eco-Freaks and strand them in the Wilderness we have lots of Wilderness they could enjoy for aa whole Month away from their Artifcial Worlds Fake Movies and useful idiots blocking the streets
The Green anarchists infiltrating corporations and public pensions must be stopped. They’re close relatives of the rock – throwing Antifa gang. Their opposition to plug in hybrid vehicles is telling. I’m thinking that if the rush to EV’s only falls flat on its face, the Greens will be overjoyed. Stay the course, Toyota!
It seems that the wackos were hoping beyond hope that new CEO Sato would take an immediate 180 degree course change to abandon gasoline engines and go whole hog to only electric when Toyoda retired and moved up to the chairman seat. Alas, Sato called for caution, as is his fiduciary duty, in his first major comments on electric vehicle future and their hopes were dashed. Now the wackos have decided they need to literally takeover Toyota corp to run it into the ground themselves.