INTERNATIONAL: Toyota Motor Corp on Tuesday has committed $70 billion to electrify its automobiles by 2030, half of it to develop a battery electric vehicle (BEV) line-up, as it looks to tap a growing market for zero-emission cars.

But the world's biggest carmaker, which is a relative latecomer to full electric cars, has said it expected annual BEVs sales to reach only 3.5 million vehicles by the end of the decade, or around a third of its current vehicle sales. That is less than bigger rivals such as Europe's No. 1 carmaker Volkswagen, which in July predicted that half of its global vehicle sales will be battery-powered cars by that date.

Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo surrounded by more than a dozen planned BEV models, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda has said his company was still pursuing a multi-pronged, carbon-reduction strategy that also includes hybrid cars and hydrogen-powered vehicles.

In November, Toyota has declined to join a pledge signed by six major carmakers, including GM and Ford to phase out fossil fuel cars by 2040. It has argued that not all parts of the world would be ready to transition to green cars by then.