Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Toyota exhibits policy engagement that is broadly misaligned with policy pathways for delivering the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. Toyota exhibits strategic engagement, and while the company supported the Paris Agreement, it has opposed stringent GHG emissions standards for vehicles, internal combustion engine (ICE) phase-out rules, and zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) targets in multiple regions.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Toyota’s top-line messaging on climate change was mostly positive. Toyota supported the Paris Agreement in its 2024 Climate Public Policies Report, published in December 2024, and appeared to support China's 2060 carbon neutrality target in a February 2025 press release.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: In the US, in July 2023 regulatory comments, Toyota opposed proposed higher GHG emissions standards for light-duty vehicles, advocating to reduce zero-emission 2030 and 2032 vehicle penetration rates. A March 2024 New York Times article also reported that Toyota had “lobbied hard” against US light-duty GHG emissions standards. A Toyota executive further strongly criticized such GHG emissions standards for penalizing ICE-powered cars in November 2024 comments, reported by Bloomberg. In October 2023 US regulatory comments, the company also opposed higher proposed US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for cars and light trucks, questioning their legality. In a March 2025 press release, Toyota endorsed the Transportation Freedom Act, a bill that would repeal existing US federal light-duty GHG emissions standards and CAFE standards, and “eliminates” US heavy-duty GHG emissions standards.
In Australia, Toyota appeared to promote low-stringency fuel efficiency (CO2) standards aligned with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ (FCAI) voluntary rules in a May 2023 consultation response. A February 2024 Australian Financial Review article later reported that Toyota had criticized Australia’s proposed standards as "too ambitious". Following this, in a March 2024 consultation response, Toyota urged the government to “revisit” headline CO2 targets, delay full penalties until 2029 and pushed for flexibilities including super and off-cycle credits to weaken the rule. However, in March 2024, the Guardian reported that a Toyota executive joined a government press conference announcing a final, weakened CO2 standard, with the executive stressing that affordability “remains a significant challenge”. An April 2025 Guardian article further reported that Toyota advocated for a delay of non-compliance penalties.
Positioning on Energy Transition: In November 2024, CNBC reported that a Toyota executive advocated to weaken the state-level US Advanced Clean Cars II rule criticizing it as being "impossible to meet", and pushed instead for "one national standard" and for that to be "reduced down". In a March 2025 press release, Toyota supported the Transportation Freedom Act, a bill that would repeal the Advanced Clean Cars II and Advanced Clean Trucks policies, which included zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandates, in all participating states including California. According to an April 2025 Politico article, Toyota opposed the Advanced Clean Cars rule and advocated to revoke the rule through the Congressional Review Act, and a February 2025 Politico article reported that Toyota advocated to remove the US federal tax credits for EVs.
In the UK, in a May 2023 consultation responsefound via FOI request, Toyota advocated to effectively delay the UK’s ZEV mandate by pushing for 2024 to be a monitoring year only, and for a weaker mandate trajectory for cars. An October 2024 joint letter signed by Toyota emphasized concerns with meeting the UK’s ZEV mandate without introducing further incentives. A March 2025 Guardian article further reported that Toyota advocated to include sales of ICE-powered hybrids from 2030-35 as part of the UK’s ICE phase-out policy.
In a January 2024 speech, chairman Akio Toyoda said that battery electric vehicles would only reach at most a 30% market share globally. In a separate January 2024 speech reported by, Nikkei, Toyoda argued that ICE-powered engines remain a “practical means of achieving carbon neutrality” and in October 2024 comments, reported by Reuters, Toyoda stressed that an electric-vehicle-only future would lead to job losses. A March 2024 New York Times article reported that “Toyota’s top lobbyist” in the US delivered a speech stating that “Toyota and our dealer partners have stood alone in the fight against unrealistic BEV mandates”, and that US Toyota dealerships supported a January 2024 letter that urged US President Biden to “tap the brakes” on its EV push. Furthermore, in November 2024, E&E News reported that Toyota had advocated to weaken US EV tax credits by urging policymakers to extend such incentives to ICE-powered hybrids.
In India, a Reuters report published in July 2024 suggested that Toyota had successfully influenced the Uttar Pradesh government to waive registration taxes on ICE-powered hybrid vehicle purchases. In January 2025, Nikkei reported that Toyota executives met with Thailand government officials to advocate for incentives for pickup trucks and ICE-powered hybrids.
Industry Association Governance: In December 2024, Toyota published its fourth industry association review and did not identify any cases of material misalignment with industry associations. Toyota retains high-level positions in industry groups with negative engagement with climate policy, including Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), where Toyota's President is Vice Chair, and the Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) where a Toyota executive is Deputy Chair. Toyota has also disclosed it is a board member of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), US-based Alliance for Automotive Innovation, and the UK-based Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders, and that an executive is a Board Vice Chair of Keidanren.
A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement every week, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q2 2025.