Toyota sets a lofty goal: selling 300,000 hybrids

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Toyota Motor Corp. has set a goal of selling 300,000 gas-electric hybrid vehicles worldwide by the end of 2005, but production capacity may be a factor, Toyota president Fujio Cho said Wednesday.

Speaking at an automotive seminar, Cho said Japan's No. 1 automaker remained bullish on prospects for hybrids even as Toyota and others invest billions on technology for hydrogen fuel-cell cars and trucks. But experts say road-ready hydrogen-powered vehicles are at least a decade away.

Toyota sold 53,293 hybrid vehicles worldwide in 2003 and announced Tuesday it was boosting monthly production of its hybrid sedan, the Prius, from 10,000 to 15,000 a month in 2005 to meet global demand. Toyota also plans to introduce two hybrid sport utility vehicles early next year — the Toyota Highlander and Lexus RX400H.

"It may be difficult for us to produce (300,000) hybrids by that time, but we have another year to go so we'll make every effort," Cho told reporters through an interpreter after his prepared remarks.

Toyota also has raised its global vehicle sales target for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005, to 7.2 million vehicles.

Cho acknowledged that a possible obstacle to reaching 300,000 hybrid sales is capacity. For now, all production takes place in Japan, but Cho said the company was studying the possibility of building hybrids in the United States.

"Sometime in the future we might have to consider doing that," he said. "We're carrying out various studies at the moment about various possibilities, but it's still at the stage of studying matters."

Hybrids draw power from two energy sources, typically a gas or diesel engine combined with an electric motor. For now, the only versions available in the United States are Toyota's Prius and two small cars made by Honda Motor Co., but nearly every automaker is investing in hybrid technology.

Ford Motor Co. is scheduled to begin selling a hybrid version of its Escape SUV this summer. Ford has said the hybrid system in the front-wheel-drive Escape allows the vehicle to get 35 to 40 miles per gallon in city driving, compared with 20 miles per gallon in a 2005 Escape with a V6 engine. It plans another hybrid SUV and midsize sedan in the next few years.

Also, Honda is set to introduce a hybrid version of its popular Accord sedan this fall.

U.S. registrations for hybrid vehicles rose to 43,435 last year, a 25.8 percent increase from 2002, according to recent figures from R.L. Polk & Co.