Toyota to Produce the 'Green' Version of Camry in Australia and Thailand

As gasoline prices spiral and global warming concerns increase, auto makers are focusing on 'green cars' – Japanese automaker, Toyota, announced that it plans to manufacture the Camry hybrid in Australia and Thailand. In a statement, Toyota officials said the company will accelerate the production of hybrid cars - 10,000 Camry hybrids are expected to be produced at the Altona plant in southeastern Australia beginning 2009 and 9000 hybrids are planned at its Gateway (News - Alert) plant in Thailand starting 2009.

 

Other than the US and Japan, Toyota already produces hybrid vehicles in China. Toyota officials said they also hope to pick the best production plants around the world. The Japanese automaker said the number of gas-and-electric hybrid vehicles made was an important factor in keeping the price of the car down and increasing the use of such vehicles around the world. Toyota officials said it hopes to sell one million or more hybrid vehicles a year after 2010.

 

Toyota Motor Thailand Co. President Mitsuhiro Sonoda pointed out that Thailand is the first Southeast Asian country to start making hybrid vehicles and said, ``As the Camry has received a warm welcome from Thai customers, we are sure these customers will be satisfied not only with the product but also with its environmental performance.''

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also welcomed the news of hybrid production and stated that his government was giving Toyota $33 million from its $500 million Green Car Innovation Fund to cover costs such as those for expanding facilities and technological development.

 

Rudd said of the estimated million cars sold in Australia each year, only 5,000 are now hybrids and that Australians need to use more fuel efficient vehicles. In his statement Rudd also said that the new Camry hybrid would use 30 per cent less fuel than a conventional Camry, saving an average family who drove 20,000km a year $950 from its annual fuel bill.

 

The production of Camry hybrids is also expected to boost the Australian auto industry.
In a related development, Toyota said it will introduce a plug-in hybrid with a next-generation lithium-ion batteries in Japan, the U.S. and Europe by 2010.

 

Other auto makers are also aggressively targeting the green cars market. For 2010, General Motors (News - Alert) is planning a Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric vehicle, while Nissan Motor Co. is planning electric vehicles for the U.S. and Japan. Honda Motor Co. is also developing new hybrid models, targeting sales of 500,000 hybrids a year sometime after 2010, officials said.