Toyota's FY2017-18 sustainability targets

“Climate change is arguably the single biggest issue facing society today.” This message from Toyota New Zealand’s CEO, is outlined in his foreword to the company’s 2017 sustainability report. The report outlines the company’s vision for the future of personal transportation, corporate responsibility, and ongoing strong economic performance. The company outlines a number of environmental initiatives in the report, including a trial of waterborne paint systems at a Thames used vehicle refurbishment facility to reduce volatile organic compound emissions and continue with a hybrid battery recycling programme. Toyota also outlined new sales targets for their EV and PHEV ranges. The company will undergo a review of the new PHV Prius for NZ market and introduce 5 Toyota and 8 Lexus hybrid vehicle models in 2017-18.  They have set sales targets of 1,188 and 4,777 for these Toyota and Lexus models respectively. “We commend the Government’s target of 64,000 electric vehicles in New Zealand by 2021.” To assist with the uptake of electric vehicles, Toyota will rollout charging stations throughout their dealer network later this year. With regards to economic performance, Toyota says that while 2017 has posed its challenges, the company is expecting further growth. “A key challenge this year was responding to the infrastructure damage caused by the Kaikoura and Wellington earthquakes,” the report says. “Next year we are expecting further market growth across all new vehicle sales operations. Stock availability to meet this demand remains a challenge… With a number of Japanese manufacturing plants already operating at maximum capacity, we are improving the forecast modelling to assist with improved stock management.” Toyota also notes the significant impact that transporting their goods to, and throughout New Zealand has on the company’s environmental impact. “This year emissions relating specifically to vehicle logistics rose, and accounted for 81 per cent of our total carbon emissions. 86 per cent of this can be accredited to our inbound operations (importing to New Zealand), and 14 per cent to outbound (distribution within New Zealand). While some savings in emissions and logistic costs have been made, it has taken longer to reach our target of 10% of vehicles discharged in Wellington, due to the implementation of the new vehicle management system and earthquake disruptions.” The report also notes the company’s health and safety, employment and other sustainability initiatives. The 31 page report is available in full here.