Toyota Industries Corporation’s On-board AC Inverter Adopted in Toyota’s New Hilux

Toyota Industries Corporation ("Toyota Industries") is pursuing full-scale expansion of on-board AC inverters—which convert electricity generated by engines or direct current from electric vehicle batteries into alternating current for household use to allow the use of electrical products—in Southeast Asia. The company's AC inverter has been adopted by Toyota Motor Corporation in the new Hilux, which is scheduled to be launched in Southeast Asia from 2026. Toyota Industries will use the track record of this adoption as a step to better respond to the needs of customers and expand sales.

Based on the approach of "more convenient in ordinary times and safer in extraordinary times," Toyota Industries developed the world's first on-board AC inverter^*1 and began mass production in 1995. Subsequently, with strengths in being compact, highly efficient, and reliable, sales quantity grew with the spread of electrified vehicles, such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Besides progress in proposals for use as a power source during disasters, the lineup has been expanded to meet the needs of the times, such as the increasing use of electronic devices in vehicles due to digitalization. The current lineup includes models with outputs from 100 W to 2,400 W that are compatible with a wide range of vehicles and applications centered on the markets of Japan and North America.

The on-board AC inverter of Toyota Industries has been adopted for both the engine and BEV models of the new Hilux. In recent years, there has been increasing demand in Southeast Asia for the use of on-board power sources, including the use of computers and smartphones inside vehicles and for entertainment purposes such as the use of speakers and fans when camping.^*2 The company is increasing recognition of its on-board AC inverters in Southeast Asia, starting with Thailand, and strengthening sales to Japanese and oversea automobile manufacturers to aim for annual sales of 500,000 units in this region in FY2031, approximately four times the level in FY2026.

Toyota Industries will contribute toward making people's lives more convenient and comfortable while further evolving the products and technologies that have been developed by the company.