Toyota Pushing For 40% Boost In Global Hybrid Sales - Up To 430,000 In 2007 - Reuters

[hatrack]

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp. said on Wednesday it is aiming for a 40 percent jump in its global sales of gas-electric hybrid vehicles to 430,000 units this year.

Japan's top auto maker said it also aims to boost domestic production of Prius hybrid cars by 40 percent to 280,000 units.
In 2006, Toyota's hybrid sales rose 33 percent from a year earlier to 312,500 units.

Hybrids, particularly Toyota's Prius, have gained in popularity among environmentally conscious Americans, in part due to high gasoline prices.

Accounting for about 1 percent of new car sales in the United States, a hybrid couples a traditional internal combustion engine with a battery to allow for lower gasoline use.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/40010/newsDate/25-Jan-2007/story.htm

[Deep13]

1. We have a Honda Civic Hybrid.

It's very quiet. Handles well too. Takes a weird engine oil, 0W20.

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. Such great news...

now contrast this with the dismal reportings from Ford (still stuck in their SUV-land).

Correlation? Anyone? Anyone?

[Kolesar]

3. Do hybrids have a good "return on energy"

They are definitely more complex with the added battery pack, charge controller, and motor/generator.

[4dsc]

8. I once read

that hybrids take 40% more energy to build than conventional automobiles.. But I cannot find that information now..

[Kolesar]

9. That sounds like the numbers that "I heard somewhere"

Which leads me to think that a long-lived diesel automobile is the best for addressing the entire energy budget of the transportation system.

[Courtesy Flush]

4. They do it all backward.

We don't need more sub-compacts that get better mileage. They've always gotten good mileage. Sure, improve on that, but in my opinion, the real need for hybridization is in the large vehicle market.

Americans will always want large vehicles. Among my sailing crowd, they're a must for towing boats.

Problem is that we buy a truck, and only tow something once or twice a month (if the weather's good).

We need large hybrid vehicles because 99% of the time we're using our trucks as a car, and don't need the big engine. I want my truck to get good mileage, and run on electricity, if possible, when just driving across town, then have all the cylinders kick in only when I need them.

So why can't they take the vehicles Americans really WANT to drive, and make them hybrid?

I understand that hybrid trucks are just about here... thank goodness. But unfortunately, I'm not in the market for another one yet.

(For the record, I have a 4-cyl Toyota truck, and a six-cyl Ford. Not a big monster).

[Javaman]

5. The few hybrid trucks I have seen, don't do much to improve mileage

but use the hybrid to create more power.

Not nowing more than just that, I find that kind of pointless.

But what do I know? :shrug:

[Courtesy Flush]

6. Yes, I looked up the numbers after I posted

It's pathetic. There's almost no point in making them hybrid if they're not going to do any better than that.

I already get better mileage than that (I think. Haven't checked in a long time) because I didn't but more truck than I needed.

There's got to be a better solution than that.

[kestrel91316]

7. The car THIS American wants is a PRIUS.

[NickB79]

10. If you only use it once or twice a month, might I suggest renting?

When I had to move, I rented a large cargo van from Hertz. It cost $65 for 24 hr and unlimited miles, and another $25 in gas.

If you're only using a vehicle twice a month, and it costs $100/day to rent it, that's $200/month, or $2400/yr. That's probably less than what you'd pay for gas and insurance alone, much less the $30,000 worth of car payments over 6 years.

Otherwise, if it's things such as furniture pick-up or home improvement items from Home Depot, they do deliver for a small fee. Again, it would be cheaper than owning a new vehicle.