Toyota Motor announced on Monday that it would expand its battery electric vehicle lineup in Europe to six models by 2026, with such vehicles estimated to account for more than 20% of new car sales in the region by then.

The world's largest automaker by sales said in a statement that it expects to sell more than 250,000 battery-powered vehicles in Europe each year by 2026, as it seeks rapid expansion in a field where it has long lagged behind competitors.

Toyota introduced two new concepts for cars that it wants to sell in the region later this decade, in addition to a battery EV that the company is currently selling in Europe and a compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) concept that it had showcased last year.

Toyota stated in statements that one was a concept model for a battery-powered small SUV that it aims to sell in Europe in 2024 and the other was a concept for a sports crossover type that will debut in 2025.

Toyota plans to sell 1.5 million battery-powered vehicles per year globally by 2026.

Sales of completely electric cars in the European Union (EU) increased by more than half in the first ten months of the year compared to the same time the previous year, according to data released last month by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Toyota had the fifth-largest total vehicle market share in the EU for the ten months ending in October, with its share falling marginally from the previous year to just under 7%, according to the data.