Working Toward the Mobility Society of the Future

Message from the President The Source of Our Value Creation: What Makes Us Toyota Value Creation Story: Working toward the Mobility Society of the Future Business Foundations Corporate Data for Value Creation > Making Ever-better Cars > Initiatives to Achieve Carbon Neutrality Software and Connected Initiatives > Commercial Sector Initiatives > Woven City new models to come, I have to ask, what exactly are we supposed to do to improve our evaluation? Vehicles are for individual customers. One vehicle, one customer. It's not a percentage business, so it's the absolute numbers that we want them to look at when evaluating. No matter how many vehicles we sell, we will make and deliver them to customers one by one, without compromise. Whatever powertrain they use, or whatever type of BEV they may be, Toyota and Lexus vehicles should continue to offer the value of fun to drive. We will continue to make products with that unique Toyota and Lexus character that makes customers happy. We will continue to take proactive action for carbon neutrality. In a world where there is no one right answer, we are committed to solving problems with a wide variety of options. We hope you understand that we are working really hard on every option. President Toyoda stressed the importance of Toyota's multi-solution strategy while strength- ening BEVS. This represents not only Toyota's way of fighting for the future, but also its history of listening to customers and responding to their needs. (Photo: Noriaki Mitsuhashi/N-RAK PHOTO AGENCY) In other words, it is the result of Toyota's commitment to diversity. Toyota is now moving with all its power toward carbon neutrality while leaving no one in the industry behind, and without giving up on any technology that still has potential. This strong will to leave no one behind has been, and will continue to be, at the center of Toyota's full-lineup strategy. "Do you Like BEVS?" During the question and answer session, there was a moment in which President Akio Toyoda revealed his candid thoughts. -I was quite surprised with today's an- nouncement, but what I want to know more about are President Toyoda's true feelings about BEVs. Personally, President Toyoda, do you like BEVS or not? If it's difficult to respond as the president of the company, you can respond as driver Morizo. Akio If I have to answer, honestly, in the past I was not interested in Toyota's BEVs, but I am getting interested in the BEVS that we are now developing for the future. After improving my driving skills, I test- drove a battery electric Toyota 86 for the first time here at MEGA WEB. The comment that I gave after my test drive was that "Yep, it's an electric vehicle." We have the Lexus brand and the Toyota brand, and we are an OEM pursuing distinc- tiveness in each brand. But when it comes to BEVS, the car tends to become more like a commodity. I think you saw through to my honest feeling. Of course, I support BEVS in terms of business, but the question is whether I sup- port them as driver Morizo. I'm a master driver, and in the training I went through back in the day, I always drove an FR vehicle. But, I now participate in rally races and the Super Taikyu races. In these motorsports, I drive four-wheel drive vehicles as well. My sensibility as a master driver has changed with these vehicles. I now think that electric motors have higher efficiency than gasoline-only-powered vehicles. If we have a good four-wheel drive platform, it can be- come an FF vehicle or an FR vehicle through control technology. So, with that kind of control technology, I think Morizo will be able to drive fast and safely on any circuit or rally course. Nori-san (rally driver Norihiko Katsuta) has won the All-Japan Rally Championship this year. The professional drivers of ROOKIE Racing are very active in various motorsports circuits. Seeing these achievements, I have growing expectations that the driving skills of these professional drivers will be reflected in our vehicles to make them safer and more fun to drive. At the same time, this platform has enabled us to make vehicles that allow amateur drivers like me to enjoy driving on various roads, however rough, whether it's a mountainous road or snowy road or whatever. This is a big change for our company. Control technology plays a key role there, but it alone can't push major improvements. If we try to create driving flavor only through control technology, it's like trying to dress up overcooked noodles by adding crispy tempura. But, over the past several years, starting with our Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) initiatives, we have made steady improvements in the vehicles' basic frame, chassis, and body rigidity under the banner of "let's make ever- better cars." We also opened the Shimoyama proving ground, and we are now testing and developing cars under tough conditions there. With this environment, I think we are now at a point where we can develop safer and faster vehicles with more fun-to-drive aspects. I look forward to developing such cars, including BEVS, moving forward. That's why it's not just a business matter anymore. As driver Morizo, I have strong expectations for and a desire to give my feedback to our development, such as "mak- ing this kind of car would be fun" or "as an automaker we want to create autonomous driving that is unique, even in an era of autono- mous driving." We will continue to make serious efforts in BEVS and other powertrains, such as fuel cell electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and gasoline-only vehicles that make exciting sounds. I'm still quite serious about them as Morizo and as the president of Toyota. We're working with our colleagues and partners very seriously in all of these fields. We want to provide customers with vehicles that can make them happy. This comment could only come from Akio, who takes the wheel himself and is responsible for the driving feel of Toyota vehicles as Master Driver Morizo. "We will continue to make ever-better cars with BEVS"-this might be the very message that he wanted to convey the most to car enthusiasts. TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION 19 INTEGRATED REPORT

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