tinyurl.com/b32un -> today.reuters.com/business/newsArticle.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2005-11-16T031009Z_01_KRA585629_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-AUTOS-JAPAN-TOYOTA-DC.XML
Research) will begin using a cheaper and smaller hybrid system from 200 8, more than doubling production of the fuel-sipping vehicles by then to 600,000 units a year, the Asahi daily reported on Wednesday. Japan's top auto maker is keen to spread the hybrid powertrain as the mai n fuel-efficient alternative to internal combustion engines to make up f or initial spending on research and development and to lower high per-un it production costs. Toyota is aiming to sell 1 million hybrid vehicles annually some time in the decade beginning in 2010. Since rolling out the world's first gasoline-electric hybrid car in 1997, Toyota has improved the powertrain with a second-generation system it c alls THS II, which powers the remodeled Prius and Lexus RX400h SUV, amon g others. But the hybrid system, which allows vehicles to run on an electric motor under certain driving conditions to save fuel, still costs manufacturers -- and consumers -- a premium of thousands of dollars over regular cars . By making the system smaller, Toyota aims to slash the premium by half an d expand its use to most of its mid-sized or larger cars, the Asahi said , without citing sources. Toyota executives have said they aimed to eventually make the powertrain available across its entire product line-up. Toyota has been pouring R&D resources into addressing the cost issue, but a spokeswoman said a target date for a third generation hybrid system h ad not been set. "2008 is certainly a possibility, but we don't know that yet," she said. Toyota expects to build and sell about 250,000 hybrid vehicles this year through its eight model offerings. Next year, that will rise to between 350,000 and 400,000 units, boosted b y the addition of the Camry hybrid to be built in Kentucky from the latt er half of 2006, and the China-built Prius, production of which has been targeted to begin by this year. The Asahi said Toyota would begin making key components for the hybrid sy stems in the United States -- the first time this manufacturing would be done outside Japan -- in line with the auto maker's stated aim to event ually procure such parts locally. Led by Toyota's aggressive push, sales of hybrid vehicles have risen shar ply over the past few years, particularly in the United States and Europ e, but auto makers have yet to agree on a de facto powertrain for saving fuel. Toyota shares ended the morning up 15 percent at 5,430 yen, in line with most other auto makers. The benchmark Nikkei average was up 005 percen t Reuters 2005.
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