Toyota executives have outlined plans which will see the company focusing on selling hydrogen-powered trucks and cars in Europe and China, as the OEM aims to sell up to 200,000 of this vehicle type by 2030. The announcement is viewed as a shift for the Japanese OEM as it has previously focused on selling passenger cars and the North American market.

The hydrogen-related update comes soon after the manufacturer established a separate company unit called the Hydrogen Factory, which is focused on the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology for additional applications including industrial power generation and commercial trucks. The unit houses 1,350 staff members.

“This may be a strange way of putting it, but 200,000 is not a big number,” said Hiroki Nakajima, chief technology officer, Toyota. “We believe this number and more can be achieved.”

In 2022, Toyota sold approximately 3,900 fuel cell vehicles, equating to 1% of the OEM’s 9.5 million vehicles sold globally that same year. With the company’s focus having pivoted to Europe and China where the demand and production of hydrogen is higher, Toyota aims to reduce costs while strengthening partnerships with additional companies.

Toyota anticipates that the global market for fuel cells will grow to approximately U$35bn by 2030, based on a forecast by Fuji Keizai, a market research firm.