I want every car in the world to be a hybrid

That's the opening statement by Hiroyuki Watanabe, senior managing director in charge of environmental matters of Toyota in an interesting article published on asahi.com. In Leading the pack: Toyota and Honda look to capitalize on their quick start in hybrid car production, writer Roy Akagawa paints the automotive future as the domain of hybrid vehicles.

While it might take some time for every car in the world to be a hybrid, the article points out that hybrid cars are only just gaining momentum. Not only the success of the Toyota Prius completely took Detroit and Europe by surprise, but also the quickness of that success.

U.S. automakers have already bet against hybrids once, and lost.

Based on the success of the Prius and Lexus RX 400h alone, it is not hard to imagine Toyota producing a million hybrids or more, per year, within 5 years, when hybrid versions of the Camry, Siena, Highlander, Lexus GS and more become available.

I wouldn't bet against hybrids again.

Click here for the complete Asahi article.