Toyota will build fuel-conserving hybrid vehicles in the United States, though plans haven’t been finalised, company president Fujio Cho said.
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Toyota now builds all of its hybrids in Japan. Cho, in an interview with the Associated Press (AP) at the Detroit show, said the company will determine by mid-year which model would be the most logical to build in the United States.
“Without a doubt, we will eventually produce a hybrid model in the United States,” Cho told AP.
The news agency noted that Toyota’s planned production for North America this year is 100,000 Priuses, which it hopes will eliminate a backlog of orders. Toyota has sold more than 100,000 Priuses in the United States since 2000, including 53,991 in 2004.
Cho told AP the company remains bullish on prospects for hybrids even as it and other automakers invest billions on technology for hydrogen fuel cell cars and trucks. Experts reportedly say road-ready hydrogen-powered vehicles, which would emit nothing more harmful than water vapour, are at least 10 to 15 years away.
AP noted that companies such as General Motors and Ford have said they consider hybrids to be a bridge to fuel-cell vehicles, but Cho told the news agency hybrid technology will remain viable even as fuel-cell vehicles become marketable.
Regardless of what type of propulsion system is used in future vehicles, Toyota executives told the Associated Press, hybrid technology can be used to increase fuel efficiency.
“We believe hybrids will continue to be the core technology in the future,” Cho reportedly said.
