Toyota Is Urged to Speed Up Its Hybrid Production Plans

By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU and PATRICIA JIAYI HO
SHANGHAI -- A Toyota Motor Corp. official said the Japanese auto maker may need to consider bringing forward its original target of producing hybrid versions of all its models by 2020 because of rising interest in fuel-efficient cars.
"I believe Toyota needs to accelerate the 2020 goal to hybridize all the Toyota models," said Toyota Managing Officer Koei Saga, adding that the company has yet to make a decision on such a move.
Associated Press
A 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid
Mr. Saga, speaking at an industry conference in Shanghai on environmentally friendly vehicles, also said Toyota plans to bring the hybrid version of its RAV4 sport-utility vehicle to China "as soon as possible." He didn't elaborate.
Mr. Saga said that because of "special circumstances," Toyota plans to sell concurrently in Japan the current Prius and the redesigned model, due for launch next month. However, he said that outside Japan, including in the U.S., Toyota plans to market only the new, redesigned model.
Mr. Saga said the new Prius will likely be slightly less expensive than the current model.
A spokesman for Toyota said pricing strategies for the redesigned Prius haven't been decided, and that it is up to the sales-and-marketing unit of each market to decide on its eventual pricing strategy.
Also Wednesday, an adviser to the Chinese government said that Beijing is likely to announce by the end of this year a consumer-incentive program to expand the use of all-electric battery cars and other "new energy" cars in China.
"Measures to encourage consumers to buy more new-energy vehicles are still in the making, but they should be released by the end of this year," said Huang Yonghe, director of the China Automotive Technology & Research Center. "At the least they should take clear shape by then."
Mr. Huang, who heads the semi-official auto-research institution in Tianjin, told the Shanghai auto conference that the central government already has a budget to support subsidies to consumers to purchase battery cars and plug-in electric vehicles, among other alternative-fuel cars. Those official subsidies, he said, will take the form of lower sales-tax rates and cash incentives for purchases.
China's central government is increasingly committed to electrified vehicles and its strategy to support auto makers developing various types of electric cars and components with research subsidies. In addition to environmental benefits, the government sees a chance for its car makers to gain ground on foreign rivals, because electric vehicles are simpler to engineer than gasoline-engine ones.
Write to Norihiko Shirouzu at norihiko.shirouzu@wsj.com and Patricia Jiayi Ho at patricia.ho@dowjones.com