[Quietcars] Toyota to launch six new hybrid vehicles by end of 2012.

[michael townsend]

>From Industry Weekly:

As competition to build greener cars heats up, the world's top automaker
Toyota Motor
plans to launch six new hybrid models by the end of 2012, a spokesman for
the company
said on Sept. 14.
The six planned models will expand Toyota's hybrid-engine range of vehicles
that
run on gasoline and electricity at a time when rivals such as Nissan are
developing
all-electric vehicles.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a Toyota official in Detroit, said that the
six new
hybrids would include two luxury brand Lexus vehicles and four Toyota
models.
Some will be hybrid models only -- like the Prius -- while others will also
have
a gasoline-engine variant, the report said. All of the hybrids will be new
and not
next-generation versions of existing models.
Toyota's Prius hybrid has been a success for the carmaker, particularly in
Japan
where the compact vehicle has topped the country's best-seller list since
May 2009.
It is now looking to compete with rivals in the increasingly competitive
environmentally
friendly market.
Nissan's all-electric Leaf vehicle, which has a top speed of more than 90
miles per
hour and is powered by a lithium battery, will go on sale later this year.
The Leaf
-- which stands for Leading, Environmentally Friendly, Affordable, Family
car --
is billed by Nissan as the world's first mass-produced electric vehicle with
zero
emissions.
Nissan hopes electric vehicles will boost growth and compete with Mitsubishi
Motors'
i-MiEV and Fuji Heavy, which makes the Subaru Plug-in Stella.
Toyota will also unveil a fully electric version of its RAV4 sport-utility
vehicle,
developed with its U.S. partner Tesla, at the Los Angeles auto show in late
November,
the spokesman said on Sept. 14. Tesla and Toyota announced a partnership in
May to
develop electric vehicles using technology from the California-based
start-up.  
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http://www.industryweek.com/articles/toyota_to_launch_six_new_hybrids_by_end
_of_2012_22757.aspx?SectionID=3

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