11-22-2004, 06:37 PM
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->http://autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=101275
Toyota planning to develop hybrid versions of every nameplate in lineup
JAMES B. TREECE | Automotive News
Posted Date: 11/22/04
TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. plans to develop hybrid versions of every nameplate in its lineup. But the schedule has not been set.
"Everything is up in the air," says Shin Kanada, Toyota managing officer in charge of public affairs. Fuel-efficient hybrids use both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor to power the wheels.
The decision to assemble the Prius hybrid in China has thrown the previous hybrid launch schedule into turmoil, he says. He would not say when the schedule would be sorted out.
Kanada was commenting on a report in Japan's Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun newspaper about the company's hybrid schedule. That report said Toyota plans to begin producing hybrid versions of the Japan-market Aristo, known as the Lexus GS in the United States, in spring.
The article said a hybrid Camry is coming in 2006; a hybrid Celsior, known as the Lexus LS in the United States, will arrive in 2007; and a hybrid Corolla in 2008 would follow.
Production of hybrid versions of the Toyota Highlander and Lexus RX400h, called the Toyota Harrier in Japan, will begin early next year. U.S. sales of the RX400h start April 15.
Toyota sources also have said the company is considering a hybrid version of the Sienna minivan that is built in the United States.
The schedule "depends on customers' demands," says Kazuo Okamoto, Toyota's senior managing director in charge of product development, design, r&d and technical administration. But "in 20 or 40 years," all of Toyota's lineup will be based on hybrids, he says. "That's our intention. And it won't just be Toyota. All makers will have hybrids."
"The future," he says, "will be a hybrid society."<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Toyota planning to develop hybrid versions of every nameplate in lineup
JAMES B. TREECE | Automotive News
Posted Date: 11/22/04
TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. plans to develop hybrid versions of every nameplate in its lineup. But the schedule has not been set.
"Everything is up in the air," says Shin Kanada, Toyota managing officer in charge of public affairs. Fuel-efficient hybrids use both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor to power the wheels.
The decision to assemble the Prius hybrid in China has thrown the previous hybrid launch schedule into turmoil, he says. He would not say when the schedule would be sorted out.
Kanada was commenting on a report in Japan's Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun newspaper about the company's hybrid schedule. That report said Toyota plans to begin producing hybrid versions of the Japan-market Aristo, known as the Lexus GS in the United States, in spring.
The article said a hybrid Camry is coming in 2006; a hybrid Celsior, known as the Lexus LS in the United States, will arrive in 2007; and a hybrid Corolla in 2008 would follow.
Production of hybrid versions of the Toyota Highlander and Lexus RX400h, called the Toyota Harrier in Japan, will begin early next year. U.S. sales of the RX400h start April 15.
Toyota sources also have said the company is considering a hybrid version of the Sienna minivan that is built in the United States.
The schedule "depends on customers' demands," says Kazuo Okamoto, Toyota's senior managing director in charge of product development, design, r&d and technical administration. But "in 20 or 40 years," all of Toyota's lineup will be based on hybrids, he says. "That's our intention. And it won't just be Toyota. All makers will have hybrids."
"The future," he says, "will be a hybrid society."<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Aussi vite que possible, aussi lentement que nécessaire...
