December 27, 2004
| Toyota
Hybrid Cars, Just a Niche Market?
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Why isn't
Toyota more optimistic about hybrid vehicle sales?
In a recent article by John
Dinkel, Power to the People 2015, covering the engines
of U.S. cars 10 years from now, there is an interesting quote.
"Regarding consumer demand, Dave Hermance, executive
engineer for environmental engineering at Toyota, says, "I
think perhaps 5 percent of total U.S. vehicle sales by 2010 will
be hybrids; by 2015, maybe 10 percent.""
While Toyota has been a big leader in the hybrid vehicle
movement because of the Toyota
Prius, perhaps their lead in hybrid cars, or more important,
clean technologies isn't as clear.
Statements such as those by Hermance seem to imply that Toyota
has no intention of making hybrid
cars their conventional cars within the next decade or two.
Unlike choosing a DVD player, rather than a VCR, health
implications are involved in this choice between vehicles. In my
opinion, automakers shouldn't have a choice any longer.
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