Lexus Will Lead the Way as Toyota Reimagines EV Strategy
Toyota’s next CEO, Koji Sato, took the stage this week to discuss the future of Lexus and Toyota’s EV strategy. Many exciting things coming in 2026!
Earlier this week, Toyota Motor Corporation’s next CEO, Koji Sato, hosted a press conference to officially introduce Toyota’s new leadership team as well as the strategy they will implement starting in April. But Sato, after giving a 15-minute presentation about the future of Lexus and Toyota, also spent over an hour answering questions about the company’s electrification goals and strategies.
Here are the highlights…
Sato says the future of Lexus and Toyota will revolve around electrification, intelligence, and diversification. Toyota is committed to helping achieve an energy-secure, carbon-neutral society. And, although energy needs and sources vary around the world, the center of Toyota’s next evolution will be battery-electric vehicles — aka BEVs — that are unique to Toyota’s brands.
At the heart of this evolution, Lexus will be leading the transition, starting with a new platform, one that supersedes e-TNGA, debuting in 2026. This isn’t just about building new batteries, but dramatically rethinking how Lexus and Toyota develop, design, and manufacture vehicles. “To deliver appealing battery-electric vehicles,” Sato said. “We need to drastically change the way we do business from manufacturing to sales and service with a BEV-first mindset. Lexus will lead this transformation.”
Later in the question and answer session, a member of the press asked, “why Lexus?” To which Mr. Sato pointed out a couple of different things. First, demand for Lexus-branded electrified vehicles is higher than for Toyotas. And another reason Lexus is going to lead Toyota’s transition into an electric future is scale. Mr. Sato described how big of a shift changing the manufacturing process will be in the grand scheme. And with a smaller output, Lexus is primed to make the switch first.
Mr. Sato mentioned that he and his team also want to make a “high-performance high-expectation vehicle.” And, historically speaking, that comes from the Lexus side of the company.
The Future of Lexus EV Strategy
Lexus expert Kirk Kreifels believes this “high-performance high-expectation vehicle” will be a new all-electric Lexus IS. This, of course, makes sense, given how the IS F kicked off the Lexus F branding in 2007. It also makes sense that Lexus would want to go after the Tesla Model 3. Then again, one might also hypothesize Sato is referencing the LFA II.
Wouldn’t Lexus want to make a bold statement in styling and performance that will then flow through the rest of the lineup?
Sato also discussed intelligence as a theme. And while autonomous vehicles come to mind when one hears intelligent cars, Sato took a slightly different approach. To paraphrase, he and his team believe that there’s so much information running through modern vehicles that they can be made to intelligently improve features like fuel economy, ride quality, and passenger safety.
Mr. Sato ended his national presentation by talking about diversity. Toyota remains focused on delivering a variety of vehicles for the needs of each global market.
If you’re interested, here is the entire press conference in its entirety (with English translation)
