Toyota rolls out first EV in cautious debut as rivals go full throttle

Bundling insurance, repair costs and a battery warranty into the deal, Toyota will lease the bZ4X SUVs at the equivalent of $39,000 for the first four years. Cancelling in the first 48 months will mean an additional fee.

While EV acceptance has been slow in Japan, that will change, and Toyota could risk losing market share by focusing on a model of leasing rather than purchasing, said CLSA analyst Christopher Richter.

“Anything you are doing that’s making it harder to buy is maybe not a good thing,” he said. “It’s a strategy I am not that fond of. It does signal that Toyota is taking the home market a little bit for granted.”

Toyota said in December it would commit 8 trillion yen ($62 billion) to electrify its cars by 2030.

Toyota aims to lease 5,000 of the front-wheel drive crossover in the current financial year — about the same amount of EVs that analysts estimate Tesla sold in Japan last year.