Yesterday, I was watching CNBC's coverage of Davos when Bono, of the band U2, was interviewed. Bono was asked whether he was selling out to the corporate world by attending Davos.
Essentially, he said yes.
In order to stop AIDS, or to end poverty, Bono insisted, corporations would be needed.
Bono also said he believed that consumers would make corporations responsible. Companies focused on social responsibility will become the successful corporations of the future.
Well, Toyota has apparently seen the light.
"To have sustainable growth of transportation, we've got to make sure that the car's ability to grow in terms of volume doesn't become its biggest problem as a detriment to society," Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., told his Automotive News World Congress audience (AutoWeek).
"We've got all these issues coming at us," Press said. "We've got to get our arms around getting ahead of them and being an industry that's for - and not against - solutions."
Thus, Mr. Press believes that the worldwide auto industry will go through a golden age, where corporate success will be determined as much be social responsibility as by quality products.
So, what will drive the golden age? Mr. Press didn't really get into specific products but he note the importance of hybrid cars.
Equally as interesting, Mr. Press further stated that Toyota has no interest in developing diesel vehicles for the U.S..
Thus, it seems quite obvious that Toyota is leading its charge into the "golden age" with hybrid vehicles.
Whether hybrids become the automotive standard or not, I think it is obvious that hybrids have forever changed the automotive industry.
