Toyota says bye to gas cars.

According to today’s Wall Street Journal, Toyota is moving away from producing gasoline cars. They claim that by 2050, hybrid, electric and fuel-cell cars will account for a majority of its sales.  Right now, 85% of Toyota’s total global vehicle sales are gasoline and diesel engine powered cars; they want to bring it down to zero… can you imagine the reaction of the oil and gas industry?!? Oil industry megapowers such as Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, and British Petroleum make money by supplying fuel to consumers of gas and diesel cars.  They depend on automakers producing these types of cars. This means they will need to get into clean energy or lose money.  This is a pretty amazing turnaround for the Toyota, considering only five years ago, the corporation was faced with possible extinction due to unpublicized brake problems. 

Now, let’s talk competition, specifically Chevy. Chevy has only two electric cars, while Toyota has seven hybrids. In my personal opinion, Chevy will make better hybrid cars. Why? They are only manufacturing two vehicles, and they do it well. While Toyota has seven models, they are sacrificing quality for quantity.  In addition, both of Chevy’s cars are fully electric, and not just hybrid like Toyota.

How does this relate to marketing? Simple: the gasoline car is moving out of the market maturity stage and into the declining stage. Why? People are demanding cleaner, more fuel efficient cars to make our world a better place. My only complaint with the fuel-efficient cars is that they are ugly and slow. I hope they make a fast, fuel-efficient car that is easier on the eyes than the Toyota Prius.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/toyota-maps-out-decline-of-conventionally-fueled-cars-1444824804