Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation.
Yoshikazu Tsuno | Gamma-Rapho | Getty Images
Detroit- Toyota’s The stock had its best week since 2009 after the company revealed plans for its next-generation electric vehicle and shareholders voted for its new leadership, including former CEO Akio Toyoda as chairman.
Shares of Toyota hit a new 52-week high of more than $168 apiece on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, up 2% during the session and about 13% for the week.
If the stock can maintain its current momentum, it would be the stock’s best week since April 2009, when it rose 14.5%. It would also mark the third double-digit weekly gain in more than two decades.
The notable increase in the relatively mundane stock comes after more details emerged on the company’s electric vehicle strategy, which has previously been criticized by some as not aggressive enough.
Toyota outlined plans for a new generation of electric vehicles to rival industry leaders ahead of its annual meeting on Wednesday tesla Based in China BYDThe company said it plans to roll out its next-generation electric vehicles starting in 2026, including cars with its much-touted “solid-state batteries” by 2027 or 2028.
Compared with today’s lithium-ion battery electric vehicles, solid-state batteries are lighter, have higher energy density, and provide greater range at a lower cost.
People arrive for the Toyota Motor Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, on June 14, 2023. Toyota is under pressure from large institutional investors to resign Chairman Akio Toyoda over his lukewarm approach to electric vehicles.
Channel | AFP | Getty Images
Takero Kato, president of the BEV plant, said Toyota aims to have a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) for its EVs. The BEV factory aims to produce about 1.7 million vehicles by 2030, he said.
“Proactive disclosure of new technology strategies featuring next-generation batteries and giga castings counters the notion that BEVs are lagging behind,” Morgan Stanley analyst Shinji Kakiuchi said in an investor note on Wednesday. “We await quantitative disclosure of future BEV profits.” .” .
Following the announcement, Toyota shareholders adjusted their votes on Wednesday based on company recommendations, including leadership approval and rejection of a shareholder proposal requiring Toyota to review its climate-related lobbying.
Shareholders also approved the company’s new leadership and board, including the appointment of CEO Koji Sato as a director and Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the automaker’s founder, as chairman.
Shares of Toyota on the New York Stock Exchange have risen about 23% this year as the auto industry continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain issues that have led to record low levels of vehicle inventory.
Toyota’s gains put it in the middle of the pack for Japanese automakers, ahead or on par with the Detroit automakers and behind shares of Tesla, which more than double in 2023.
– CNBC michael bloom and Lim Hui Jie contributed to this report.