Toyota Delays Launch Of Prius 3.0 Until Spring 2009, Says Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun - Reuters

[hatrack]

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. has decided to postpone the launch of the third-generation Prius hybrid model by half a year to the spring of 2009, industrial daily Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun said on Friday.

The world's biggest automaker has not officially announced the timing of the launch, but a consensus had built among industry watchers that the popular gasoline-electric car would be remodelled by late 2008. The Nikkan Kogyo said Toyota decided to take more time to ensure quality after it decided to forgo replacing the nickel-metal hydride battery used in the hybrid system with a lithium-ion battery for the first version of the new model.

Toyota and battery partner Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. are developing a lithium-ion battery that many expected would power the motor in the next Prius. The paper had said last month that those plans were also delayed due to safety concerns.

A Toyota spokesman declined to confirm the delay of the Prius launch, saying it was not possible to move back a plan whose timing had not been set.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/42658/story.htm

[greenman3610]

1. dissarray at toyota is an opportunity for GM

GM has moved several hundred engineers to work on the
chevy volt plug in, which will get approx 150 mpg. - and
is due out in 2010-2011.
They plan to sell a million by 2015.

[phantom power]

2. Rick? Rick? Is that you?

[skids]

3. Also the Saturn Vue Greenline PHEV.

There's opportunity there in both Toyota's timing and their patent posture on batteries. As loathsome as Cobasys's behavior has been in the past, they may want to actually use it before it runs out. Cash talks.