Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in Japan to bring Prius to California

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that "Mr. Schwarzenegger arrived in Tokyo yesterday for his first visit to Japan since the former film star became governor of the state of California. High on the agenda, according to people familiar with his schedule, is a meeting with senior officials at Toyota, who will hear the pitch for producing the popular Prius gas-electricity hybrid vehicle."

Just recently, the Governor helped increase the fuel-efficiency and pollution-emission requirements for all vehicles sold in the state of California, almost requiring all automakers to produce hybrid vehicles - which meet future requirements while scaling towards the hydrogen economy.

"California already is home to a Toyota facility... in Fremont, California, ...which could in theory be expanded to produce hybrids. But rivaling that bid are other Toyota facilities in the U.S. in states such as Kentucky and Indiana, which are generally perceived as less expensive for producers than California."

Additionally, California already is the biggest consumer of Prius hybrid cars and demand for Prius and other hybrid vehicles will be led by California, particularly due to the new legislation.

Therefore, the Gov. should have some leverage, and it could be a great PR move for Toyota to promote hybrid cars and Toyota in America.

Additionally, it will help promote Toyota hybrids as superior to the only American hybrid, the Ford Escape hybrid. Early next year, Toyota will be directly competing with Ford in the hybrid SUV space, with the release of the Toyota Highlander hybrid and the Lexus RX400 hybrid.

The only other competition is the Honda Accord hybrid, or Honda Civic hybrid, but since both vehicles are cars made outside the U.S., that will be a future fight.