Major Institutional Investors Calling For Toyota Leader To Be Removed From Board

According to electrek, the protestors are specifically protesting Toyota’s refusal to commit to a date for going 100% electric, as most other establishment brands have. To be clear, these are institutional investors that own significant volumes of Toyota stock, including New York City comptroller's office, the California Public Employees Retirement System, and several European asset managers. What’s more, they are not just going to vote for Akio Toyoda’s removal, but several Toyota directors as well. The message is clear, these investors are tired of Toyota dragging its feet.

Is Toyota truly dragging its feet? If you ask me, the answer is unequivocally yes. We are about 13 full years into the modern EV era. Brands like Nissan, VW, GM and Hyundai/Kia are now selling their third, or at least second generation of EVs right now. Toyota just released its first, last year (and its wheels were literally falling off and had to be recalled, a perfect metaphor perhaps). But wait, what about those Rav 4 EVs Toyota sold a few thousand of in the previous decade? Those don’t count because 1. They were compliance cars (meaning they were never made for mass production, just to meet governmental regulations/for emissions credits). 2. The batteries were from Tesla (which just means that Toyota was so uncommitted they couldn’t be bothered). So no, Toyota is not showing much commitment to EVs. Sure, they’ve made a fairly large number of plug-in hybrids (PHEVS), as well as some big promises recently, and if they stick to their goal of selling 1.5 million EVs per year by 2026, which is a bit laughable if you consider what GM and Ford have boasted of, compared to what they have managed to sell so far. Toyota has very little chance of actually achieving such a goal within 3 years as they simply don’t have enough battery supply to do so. But that shouldn’t stop them from trying. Indeed, they should be trying like their life, as a company, depends on it (because it quite possibly does).

This protest may have no long term effect because they would need an overwhelming number of shareholder voices to actually pass their proposal. Also, Toyota’s stock price jumped today at the mere mention of their intention to market next generation EVs, in 2026 (mind you). Which is just to say that Toyota’s storied quality still controls its public perception. But that is specifically what I am talking about when I say if Toyota chooses to ignore this protest, they do so at their own peril. Toyota used to use the phrase “Quality is job one” in their marketing when I was growing up. Quality does not only mean reliable, lasting, or good. Quality, at its core, comes from the perception of those who respect or admire something. If more and more Toyota is being perceived as a foot-dragging, uninspired, and irresponsible (or irresponsive) company that refuses to seriously address the pollution and emissions harming us all, then they are degrading their perception of quality among its customer, and investor base. What do you think happens when that perception gets low enough? Would you even trust such a company?

Please leave your comments, responses and questions below.

Image courtesy of Toyota.

Justin Hart has owned and driven electric vehicles for over 15 years, including a first generation Nissan LEAF, second generation Chevy Volt, Tesla Model 3, an electric bicycle and most recently a Kia Sorento PHEV. He is also an avid SUP rider, poet, photographer and wine lover. He enjoys taking long EV and PHEV road trips to beautiful and serene places with the people he loves. Follow Justin on Twitter for daily KIA EV news coverage.