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Toyota aims to keep lead in hybrid market with new Prius
(Kyodo News International (Tokyo) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mar. 26--OYAMA -- Toyota Motor Corp. aims to maintain its lengthy lead in the gas-electric hybrid car market and drive itself out of the current auto slump amid the global recession as it will release in mid-May a new Prius with its mileage improved by about 10 percent from the current model.
"To be honest, it was a really tough development," Chief Engineer Akihiko Otsuka told reporters at the Fuji Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture, where a prototype of the new Prius was shown earlier this month.
"Clearing a high mileage target was the most difficult thing... I once thought of giving up, but with pep talks from top management, we managed to achieve the goal without changing it," he said.
Otsuka said he wants the third-generation bigger Prius to sell more than 25,000 units per month globally, compared with the current Prius' average monthly sales of about 23,000 units last year.
The new Prius is 1.5 centimeters longer and 2 cm wider than the current Prius, while its height remained unchanged.
The new car will have a 1.8-liter engine, up from the current 1.5-liter displacement, while its motor's power will be strengthened to 60 kilowatts from the current 50 kilowatts. Meanwhile, the cost of its newly developed hybrid system was cut by about 20 to 35 percent, Otsuka said.
As part of its efforts to boost fuel efficiency, the new Prius will be available with a solar panel on the roof to generate electricity for the cabin's ventilation.
Toyota is poised to introduce the new Prius, the world's top-selling hybrid, in Japan's shrinking auto market that now includes the smash hit Insight hybrid from Honda Motor Co. The overseas launch of the revamped Prius is expected to come in about a month after.
Orders for the Insight reportedly totaled more than 21,000 units by about six weeks after its Feb. 6 debut in Japan, far outpacing the automaker's monthly target set at 5,000 units. The success has been attributed to fuel efficiency and the base price being limited to 1.89 million yen, compared with 2.33 million yen for the current Prius.
Otsuka said Honda's Insight came out with a price "lower than we had expected." While Toyota has yet to announce its price for the new Prius, sources close to the matter have said Toyota may limit the price to 2.05 million yen to better compete with the Insight.
"The Insight should be superior in terms of price, and the Prius would clearly beat the rival in performance," Koji Endo, an auto analyst for Credit Suisse Securities (Japan) Ltd., said. "So consumers will be divided depending on which points you put emphasis." Toyota has sold a total of 1.24 million units of the Prius globally since the model's debut in 1997, but sales have been battered recently, with those in its main market North America plunging 30 percent from a year earlier in January.
Endo said Toyota is introducing the new hybrid into a tough market as the global economic slump has hammered demand for vehicles and a plunge in gasoline prices has reduced the incentive for buying hybrids.
But in the long term, there is no doubt the hybrid market will expand, and after the next few years when the economy recovers, both the Prius and the Insight should sell well, with monthly sales likely to reach about 33,000 and 17,000 vehicles, respectively, he said.
In addition to the Prius and a hybrid sport utility vehicle in the luxury Lexus brand that is due to be put on the domestic market in April, Toyota plans to release two more hybrid models in Japan later this year. The firm plans to add hybrid versions to all of its models by the early 2020s.
"We've already begun developing a compact hybrid as small as the Vitz," known as the Yaris overseas for launch in few years with a more affordable price tag, Otsuka said.
Japan's second-largest automaker Honda plans to introduce a CR-Z sports car hybrid next year, while Nissan Motor Co., Japan's No. 3 automaker, is set to launch hybrids in the 2010 business year.
Also adding variety in the market of fuel-efficient cars, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. are set to release electric cars this summer.
Automakers have been sharply cutting production and personnel costs as well as investments to cope with weakening sales, but they have vowed not to slow spending on development of "green" technologies.
To see more of Kyodo News International, go to http://www.kyodonews.com
Copyright (c) 2009, Kyodo News International, Tokyo
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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