Amid his dizzying display of race driving as “Morizo” on Aug. 23, Akio Toyoda, Toyota Motors Corp’s charismatic chair and Master Driver nonpareil, found time to break away from his hectic schedule for an exclusive interview with Inquirer Motoring on Aug 23.
Here, he revealed his thoughts about the future of mobility and new-energy vehicles in the Philippines.
Make BBM like hydrogen cars
Toyoda disclosed that he’s in talks with Toyota Motor Corporation’s EVP and Asian Region chief executive officer Masahiko Maeda to convince President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to ride in a hydrogen-powered car.
“We’re talking about how we can plan to create an opportunity for the President to actually experience riding a hydrogen-powered vehicle here in the Philippines,” said Toyoda.
Such an opportunity began when Marcos visited the automotive manufacturing facilities and the manual transmission plant of Toyota Special Economic Zone in Laguna province on Aug 22.
He was welcomed by Toyoda and Toyota Motors Philippines (TMP) officials led by chair Alfred V. Ty.
In that visit, Toyoda said that he learned the President was also “very much interested in motorsports,” which gave Toyoda the opportunity to reveal to him that in Japan, Toyoda raced a hydrogen-powered vehicle.
“He became very interested when I explained this to him,” Toyoda said.
He added, “The President then asked if the engine of the hydrogen-powered vehicle was different from the conventional internal combustion engine (ICE). I answered, no it’s no different. We use the same ICE engine for that. He was very surprised. He then said that, if that was the case, then he would be able to protect employment (in the automotive sector) while at the same time improve emissions.”
On Aug. 21, 2022, Toyoda put the GR Yaris H2—a specially made hydrogen-powered version of the Toyota GR Yaris—through its paces in a demonstration run during the ninth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) in Ypres. This was the first time Toyota allowed an in-development hydrogen-powered vehicle to run on public roads outside of Japan.
PH as 10th largest market
Toyoda shared that after the President’s plant visit, during the 35th anniversary celebration at the Grand Hyatt at Bonifacio Global City, he made it very clear how the Philippine market was “very important” to Toyota.
“Even though it may not be the biggest country, its sales volume is actually Toyota’s 10th highest in the entire world, which is pretty amazing if you ask me! In fact, Toyota seems to be as popular here as basketball and BTS!”
Morizo, more races
Toyoda isn’t showing any signs of slowing down as far as his track exploits are concerned. The man says his racing schedule is full. He said he’ll join a race at the Fuji speedway circuit later this year. Then he’ll also be off to Thailand later this December for another endurance race.
In both these races, he’ll be driving a hydrogen-powered car.
Asked if he’s joining the Nurburgring 24-hour race again, Toyoda replied, “I don’t know if I’m going to be doing 24 hours. Maybe I’ll go for six hours, but I definitely want to race there.
“Maybe you don’t know, (but) I’m a busy person, I have other work to do,” he laughed.
Hybrids for now
Although Toyoda gushed about the possibilities of hydrogen as the staple fuel in the not-so-distant future, he was very much aware of the practicalities and the economics of emerging new-energy vehicles.
He said that the front-running alternative, battery electric vehicles (BEVs), as well as hydrogen technology were still expensive, rendering them impractical for countries like the Philippines.
He explained, “When I think about the situation, I think hybrids will suit this country better. BEVs and hydrogen-powered vehicles would require (extensive) infrastructure. Both are also still expensive. Mobility needs to be, first, affordable to many people, and then they have to be environment-friendly. So, (if we need to address both) now, I think the best option will be to go hybrid.”
Toyota being Toyota, however, one can be assured that it will pursue all technologies possible to meet the needs and aspirations of a rapidly evolving mobility market.
He said, “Toyota is going to be a full lineup company pursuing a multi-pathway approach to address climate change challenges. This also goes for Toyota in Asia.”
MAIN PHOTO: Toyota Motor Corp. chairman Akio Toyoda and Toyota Motor Philippines Cop. Chairman Alfred Ty join a star-studdded cast of Japanese and local drifters during the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival recently at the Quirino Grandstand grounds.
