Toyota to raid back catalogue for future electric car names

Toyota is set to raid more of its back catalogue for names of future electric models, rather than continue the alphanumerical naming convention it started with the bZ4X.

The bZ4X arrived in 2022 as Toyota’s first EV, with ‘bZ’ standing for ‘beyond zero’ (emissions), 4 being the size of the car in Toyota lexicon and ‘X’ referring to it being a crossover.

However, the Japanese firm’s second EV, the Urban Cruiser, ditches that naming convention in favour of a name from its extensive back catalogue.

Andrea Carlucci, Toyota Europe’s director of marketing and product development, confirmed to Autocar at the Urban Cruiser’s Brussels motor show unveiling that he expected the b4X name to “remain a bit isolated” in the Toyota range.

The desire to return to word names was the result of “a clear request from Europe that was very much heard and followed by Japan”, said Carlucci.

“We have a number of models. If you start multiplying by technology, by segment, the nameplates tend to proliferate too much. We wanted to rationalise this.”

He added that Toyota wanted to “avoid this inflation of nameplates for the simplicity of the consumer”.

The Urban Cruiser will join the related Suzuki eVitara in being manufactured in India. Carlucci wouldn’t be drawn on when production of Toyota EVs in Europe would begin, confirming only that “the philosophy of Toyota is to sell where we produce”.

More broadly on how Toyota would be able to stand out for making EVs as it has done for hybrids, Carlucci said it was that expertise in batteries and energy management that has already “created a lot of trust from customers” in Toyota EVs.

“Toyota knows better than anyone about how to manage a battery, how to make it stable and so on,” he said.

He sees “no boundaries” for the GR performance division to become involved in the firm’s EVs in the future, saying “I think GR stays as a very strong ICE” proposition for now.