Toyota President Watanabe Announces Environmental Agenda at 2008 NAIAS Media Reception
January 13, 2008 - Detroit - Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA, Inc., held a media
reception tonight at the 2008 North American International Auto Show at which
Katsuaki Watanabe, president of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), announced a
wide-ranging environmental agenda in response to the company's sustainable mobility
vision.
Watanabe confirmed that a new clean diesel V8 engine will be offered in both
the Tundra and Sequoia in the near future. By 2010, Toyota will accelerate its
global plug-in hybrid R&D program. As part of this plan, Toyota will deliver
a significant fleet of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), powered by
lithium-ion batteries, to a wide variety of global commercial customers, with
many coming to the U.S.
To make that happen, Toyota has already started the planning phase to expand
its Panasonic joint-venture battery factory. The expansion will add an assembly
line to build lithium batteries for automotive applications.
Finally, Watanabe invited the media to attend next year's NAIAS, where Toyota
will stage the world premieres of two all-new, dedicated hybrids, one for Toyota
and one for Lexus.
"These two introductions will move us closer to our goal of selling a million
hybrids per year in the next decade," said Watanabe.
