LoginToyota Puts New Electric SUV On Ice As Demand For One Gas Model Soars
- Toyota has delayed the introduction of a new large electric SUV to 2028, reports say.
- The move is a response to slow EV sales and strong demand for the Grand Highlander.
- The brand will now build the delayed EV alongside another electric SUV in 2026.
As demand patterns shift in the auto industry, the tension between future-focused electric vehicles and proven combustion models continues to shape manufacturing plans.
Toyota has always been a strong believer in that a multi-energy approach is best, which is why you’ll find EVs, hydrogen fuel-cell cars and combustion models in its showrooms. But the brand is experiencing such a massive demand for one particular ICE SUV it was forced to press pause on a planned new EV to make room.
Related: Akio Toyoda Says EVs Are Dirtier Than You Think
An electric SUV that was to be built at the automaker’s Princeton, Indiana, plant from 2027 now won’t start rolling off the line until 2028, according to a Bloomberg report. And that line has been switched to Toyota’s Georgetown site, where another EV will start production in the back end of 2026, around six months later than planned.
This is bad news for EV fans, but could be good news for anyone looking to buy a Grand Highlander in the next couple of years.
There are a couple of reasons for the delay and switcheroo, one of which is that EV sales haven’t taken off in the way Toyota – and every other automaker – thought they might. Although the brand’s own bZ4X had a great first quarter, and the facelifted model, now called simply bZ, is a much stronger proposition, the overall US EV market is growing at a slower rate than in previous years.
Hybrids and Gas Models Are Still Pulling Ahead
And going hand-in-hand with that is the much faster growth being experienced by the hybrid segment and the continued appeal of simple gas cars, trucks and SUVs. Toyota’s Grand Highlander – which is available in gas and hybrid forms – has proved such a hit with buyers that the automaker desperately needs to make more of them.
The Grand Highlander was Toyota’s second-best-selling non-truck model in June, deliveries jumping 92 percent when, at the same time, even the number one spot RAV4 was down 4.5 percent.
The rush to pick up one of the midsize SUVs left dealers with just a three-day supply at the end of that month, Bloomberg reports, and switching production of the delayed-to-’28 EV will ensure Toyota has plenty of spare Grand Highlander capacity at Georgetown going forward.
