"Washington DC July 11, 2005; The AIADA newsletter reported that Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe announced Monday plans to produce a hybrid pickup truck as part of the automaker’s goal to achieve a full lineup of low-emission models, reports Bloomberg." Toyota Hybrid pickup next in line. "Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that it planned to sell the first gasoline-electric pickup trucks, bringing the fuel-saving technology to General Motors Corp.’s most profitable section of the market. A hybrid pickup truck is part of the automaker’s plan for a full lineup of low-emission models, said Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe in Tokyo. Toyota has gas-electric engines in six types of vans, sedans and sport utility vehicles since making the Prius hybrid car in 1997. Watanabe is looking to follow the success of the Prius, which can go more than twice the distance on a gallon of gasoline than a conventional sedan can and has a three-month waiting list at U.S. dealers. Gas-electric engines have gained in popularity as states such as California have introduced tighter emission rules and oil prices have risen to record highs. " Toyota plans gas-electric pickup.
That article totally sounds like a gross misrepresentation of the statement "We would ideally want a full lineup of hybrid models," by Watanabe. That is the only quote attributed to anyone at Toyota that leads to having someone infer that they are coming out with a hybrid truck. They don't even mention what truck will come out as a hybrid first - they infer the FTX since it's the next new truck Toyota is coming out with. I could just as easily write an article saying that Toyota is coming out with a hybrid minivan.
