Toyota Motor Corporation is accelerating the shift away from gasoline engines for its main models in Japan. Starting in May, all four versions of the popular Corolla series will be available only as hybrid vehicles (HVs), following the release of updated models.
The RAV4, Toyota’s sport utility vehicle (SUV), will undergo a full redesign by 2025. It will also drop its gasoline-powered version entirely.
Hybrid vehicles emit less carbon dioxide than traditional gas-powered cars and do not suffer from the limited driving range of electric vehicles. These advantages have helped increase demand. Toyota’s global sales of hybrids rose by 31.1% in fiscal year 2023 and by 21.4% in fiscal year 2024. This marks two straight years of strong double-digit growth.
The four Corolla variants moving to hybrid-only production are the sedan (Corolla), the station wagon (Touring), the hatchback (Sport), and the SUV (Cross).
Now in its sixth generation, the latest RAV4 becomes Toyota’s first model to eliminate gasoline engines completely. It is now available as a hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicle.
