Toyota aims to almost eliminate gasoline cars by 2050

The Japanese auto giant said that it aimed to sell over 30,000 fuel cell vehicles around or after 2020 and added that it would eliminate carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 by using renewable energy and hydrogen-based production methods.

The numbers of its fuel cell vehicles are far lower with the expectation that it will shift 30,000 a year by 2020 and that can be expected to push on further as time goes on. The maker most famous for its Prius hybrid model has also announced its goal is to deliver more than 15 million hybrids in the same timeframe (cumulative sales).

Toyota Motor Corp.TM -1.66 % is plotting a road to near extinction for its conventionally fueled cars as the industry grapples with the fallout of Volkswagen AGVLKAY -4.00 % ‘s diesel-emissions scandal. About 14% of the cars and trucks it sold worldwide previous year were hybrid or plug-in autos.

Toyota’s sales of hybrid cars reportedly rose from less than 16,000 units each year in 2001 to a peak of about 237,000 in 2012.

To do so, Toyota plans to sell roughly 7 million gas-electric hybrid vehicles world-wide over the next five years, it said. This week, the German auto maker said it is accelerating plans to develop battery-driven and hybrid electric vehicles.

Toyota, which has focused on hybrids, past year started selling fuel-cell cars that run on hydrogen and emit only water from the tailpipe. Before its diesel emissions cheating scheme was revealed, Volkswagen had said it planned to roll out 20 electric and plug- in hybrid cars by 2020.

Toyota also is further along in its electrification strategy than General Motors Co., the world’s third-biggest auto manufacturer.

By contrast, USA deliveries of Prius hybrids passed the 500,000 mark in 2007, according to researcher Autodata Corp.

Toyota announced at a Tokyo museum that it plans to persuade governments, affiliated companies and stakeholders to reduce average emissions from its vehicles by 90% by 2050.