Toyota president stresses steady growth Head of world's No. 2 automaker prefers to have earnings stable rather than rising sharply. Japan's top auto maker leads the industry in the development of next-generation vehicle technology, such as gasoline-electric hybrids, and expects to spend ¥770 billion on R&D this year. The maker of the popular Prius hybrid sedan has said it aims to sell 1 million hybrid vehicles a year "as soon as possible." We should reach (the preliminary goal of) 300,000 units around next year," he said. "But we need to halve the premium of ¥400,000 to ¥500,000 that customers pay now for hybrids to raise volumes, and we'll need a technological breakthrough for that." Watanabe repeated Toyota's goal of eventually offering the hybrid powertrain on all models across its lineup, including pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, but he said the company was far from deciding which models to start with. Read entire article from CNN/Money by clicking on this link.
Not 1 million Prii. One million hybrids. That will consist of Prii as well as Highlander, Camry and whatever other models they add to their hybrid line. I think it's a great goal. And very long range. I think that "sharp jump in profit" is a dig at the current "deal" war with GM, Ford and Chrysler. They are all offering their special employee discount deal. The problem being it's short term. Sure, sales are up now. But will sales remain when the discount is gone? I was listening to an expert on....60 min?, 20/20?...saying that it was a bad business strategy. Like living on credit cards. He suggested that rather than deals, the car companies.....wait for it.....made cars people wanted to buy. Bingo! And I can't help thinking....would an American car manufacturer say this: "I don't think we should skimp on R&D costs, either. We've come to a phase of high fixed costs, and this is going to remain for a while." ? And coupled with that, he acknowledges they have to bring down the premium customers pay for hybrid technology, saying that it will take another breakthrough in technology, I.E. R&D for that to happen. Hence the investment. This guy is looking at the long haul, not the short gratification. That 1 million hybrids is also tied to a projected 10 million sales. So they're looking at bringing their hybrid sales up to 10% of their total sales. A great goal. This last part is very interesting: "On hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, Watanabe said he hoped to reach an agreement soon with General Motors Corp. on how to cooperate in the field to enable commercialization of the zero-emission cars."
Like I noted in my article on HybridScoop, I expect production to top 2 million units by 2008. http://hybridscoop.com/article/toyota_to_d...0_units_in_2006 I personally think Toyota has something up their sleeve and is going to introduce a new hybrid system come 2007 or 08 when the Tundra Hybrid is introduced. And the good news for us is that the new HSD system would probably debut in the Prius.
Goodie! I have always owned my cars 9-11 years before replacing them. I love my Prius. But as much as I love my Prius, it is the first car I've considered replacing prior to the 10 year mark. But ONLY with another Prius. Why? For this very reason. A significant advance in the technology. But...it would still have to be a hatchback. I love the design. It is the best car I've ever owned but I just can't give up the hatchback. It's....perfect.
2004 Prius a collector's car? If Toyota only made about 24,000 model 2004 cars then this is destined to become a collector's car (unless something bad starts happening to them). The first year for the new model, low production numbers, and in high demand from the beginning. A classic formula for a winner. Bids on my 04 are now starting at $46,000
