Toyota's hybrid strategy generates huge profits

Toyota, the world's largest automaker, has been criticized for selling few electric vehicles, but its decision to focus on hybrids is paying off financially.

In the high-tech, high-stakes auto industry, fortunes can change quickly, and there's no better example of that than 'currently Toyota Motor.

Not so long ago, it seemed like Toyota had fallen dangerously behind in the electric vehicle space. Electric car pioneer Tesla has grown rapidly and become the world's most valuable automaker. Seeing Tesla's success, other companies, such as General Motors and Ford Motor, concluded that large numbers of consumers were on the verge of switching to battery-powered cars and trucks and began investing tens of billions of dollars to catch up.

Toyota, however, was more deliberate – or lethargic, its detractors would say. So far, it has introduced only two all-electric models in the United States, betting that its gasoline-electric hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles, for which it is known, would remain popular and be sufficient to combat climate change for the moment. /p>

Amid all the excitement about electric vehicles over the past few years, it seemed like Toyota just didn't get it.

"I was shocked when I first heard about Toyota's strategy, because I could see what Tesla was doing," said Earl Stewart, a Toyota dealer in Lake Park, Florida, who also likes to drive his Tesla Model S.

But over the past six months, electric vehicle sales have slowed and car buyers Americans looking to reduce their fuel bills and tailpipe emissions have turned to hybrids. Today, Toyota's sales are booming and the company is making huge profits.

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