Toyota has good news in its September sales report for its Triad battery plant nearing production: Electrified vehicles are selling well even as overall sales continue to be slow.
September electrified vehicle sales consisting of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, pure electrics and fuel cells were up 22.4% by volume and 38.3% on a daily selling rate basis compared to September 2023, Toyota North America reported Tuesday morning.
Electrified sales accounted for 48.4% of total sales volume. Overall U.S. September sales of 162,595 vehicles were down 20.3% by volume and 9.9% on a daily selling rate basis that accounts for variances in selling days each month.
By quarter, electrified sales were up more than 38% by volume and 42% on a DSR basis. Toyota says it has 30 electrified models among its Toyota and Lexus brands.
Toyota’s 1,825-acre under-construction plant at the Greensboro-Randolph megasite about 18 miles southeast of Greensboro near Liberty will make drive batteries for hybrid and all-battery vehicles assembled elsewhere. About 1,000 people have been hired, and the facility is on schedule to make prototypes this fall and production by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
It will be Toyota’s only North American factory dedicated to batteries for electrified vehicles.
It was a year ago this month that Toyota, the world’s largest car maker by unit sales, announced it was adding $8 million in investment to the facility in the form of eight more production lines for all-battery and plug-in hybrid production, for a total of 10, in addition to four originally announced hybrid lines. The plan boosted expected employment by 3,000 to 5,000.
It was a reflection of a corporation-wide decision to focus on hybrid models rather than all-electric for the medium term as U.S. drivers adapt to electrification. One of its most popular models, the Camry sedan, is now made only as a hybrid.
“In September, nearly 50 percent of our total sales volume was an electrified model, an achievement made possible by our outstanding team and dealers,” said Jack Hollis, executive vice president, Sales, TMNA. “We believe that our portfolio approach to electrification is the best pathway to carbon neutrality while giving customers a variety of powertrain options that fits their lifestyle.”
Year to date, electrified vehicles are running up 56% by volume and 41.1% on a daily selling rate basis, Toyota reported.