NAGOYA, Japan, Oct 10 (Reuters) - A shift to an electric

vehicle-only future would lead to job losses among those who

have been working on engine-related technologies, including at

the many suppliers in the sector, Toyota Motor's ( TM )

chairman said on Thursday.

"There are 5.5 million people involved in the automotive

industry in Japan. Among them are those who have been doing

engine-related (work) for a long time," Akio Toyoda told

reporters.

"If electric vehicles simply become the only choice,

including for our suppliers, those people's jobs would be lost,"

he said, adding he liked gasoline vehicles.

Toyota ( TM ), the world's biggest automaker by sales, has been

more cautious in its approach to EVs than other makers. That's

helping it currently as global EV sales slow and it benefits

from demand for its expanding hybrid line-up, including in its

top market the United States.

It champions what it calls a "multi-pathway" strategy toward

zero-carbon emissions that includes EVs, hybrids, hydrogen

fuel-cell vehicles and other powertrain technology.

In January, Toyoda said EVs would at most account for 30% of

the global auto market, with hybrids, hydrogen fuel-cell and

fuel-burning vehicles making up the rest. He did not specify a

timeframe for that forecast.

Toyoda made the comments to reporters at the unveiling of a

bust of his father, Shoichiro Toyoda, at Nagoya University in

central Japan.

The elder Toyoda, who died aged 97 last year, led Toyota ( TM )

during the 1980s, when the company reshaped the global auto

market, upending Detroit's dominance. He also oversaw the launch

of the luxury Lexus brand and the Prius hybrid.