The very same Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda from the above Rally Japan 2022 picture is now dropping a bombshell in the Wall Street Journal which might have a big influence on the course of the future WRC:
Toyota Chief Says ‘Silent Majority’ Has Doubts About Pursuing Only EVs
"Global car companies have made a sharp pivot to electric vehicles within the last few years, driven in part by the success of EV-only maker Tesla Inc.
Traditional auto makers such as Toyota, Ford and GM are also facing new competition from startups such as Rivian Automotive and Lucid Group Inc., which make EVs exclusively and have captivated Wall Street in recent years.
At the same time, the legacy auto makers have a much broader base of customers, including many living in rural areas and developing economies with unreliable electricity supplies.
And their gas-engine businesses are still driving the bulk of profits needed to fund the costly shift to electric vehicles, which not only requires the development of new models but also construction of new facilities and battery plants."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/toyota-...72223?mod=e2li