Toyota Motor, the world’s largest automaker by sales, announced on Monday that it would expand its battery electric vehicle (BEV) line-up in Europe to six models by 2026, aiming to capture more than 20% of the new car market in the region with its zero-emission vehicles.

The Japanese company, which has long been a leader in hybrid and fuel-cell technology, said it expected to sell more than 250,000 BEVs annually in Europe by 2026, as it seeks to catch up with rivals that have been faster to embrace the electric revolution.

Toyota currently sells only one BEV model in Europe, the Proace Verso Electric, a van that can seat up to nine people. It also showcased a compact SUV concept, the bZ4X, last year, which it plans to launch in Europe in 2022.

On Monday, Toyota unveiled two new concepts for models that it plans to sell in Europe later this decade: a small SUV, the bZ1X, which will debut in 2024, and a sports crossover, the bZ5X, which will hit the market in 2025. The company said it would reveal the remaining two models in its BEV line-up in due course.

Toyota is targeting global sales of 1.5 million BEVs a year by 2026, as part of its broader goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. BEVs accounted for 1% of Toyota’s worldwide sales of about 8.5 million vehicles over the first 10 months of the year, including those of its luxury Lexus brand.

The company said it would also set up a dedicated business unit for hydrogen in Europe, as it seeks to commercialise the technology by developing fuel-cell systems and supporting commercial partnerships for it. Toyota sold about 3,500 fuel-cell vehicles globally over the January-October period, mostly in Japan.

Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles use an electric motor like BEVs, but draw power from a fuel stack where hydrogen is separated by a catalyst to produce electricity. Toyota said it would focus on selling hydrogen-powered trucks and cars in Europe and China, where it sees strong demand for the technology.

The announcement came as sales of fully electric cars in the European Union (EU) surged by more than 50% over the first 10 months of the year compared to the same period a year earlier, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association showed last month.

According to Reuters: Toyota had the fifth-biggest total auto market share in the EU for the 10 months through October, seeing its share decline slightly from the previous year to just under 7%, the data showed. The company faces stiff competition from European and Chinese rivals, as well as US electric car maker Tesla, in the fast-growing BEV segment.

Toyota Motor’s global sales rose 10.5 percent to 856,376 units in February 2023