They may be a long, long way from producing vehicles that can cross the U.S. on a single tank of fuel while cleaning the air as they pass and avoiding crashes along the way, but that's the kind of goal Toyota is working toward.
So said Jim Press, the president and COO of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc at an automotive management seminar in Traverse City, Michigan, recently.
Press said that Toyota's new global president, Katsuaki Watanabe, "recently asked all of us in the Toyota family to redouble our efforts to truly contribute to society in our work today. He told of us of his dream to create future cars that can not only travel across the United States on one tank of gas, but also clean the air while we drive them and prevent accidents and injuries."
While it's "a dream at this point," said Press, "that's where we are headed, and Watanabe has committed to vigorously promoting the research and development needed to get us there."
This kind of vision particularly appeals to Press, it seems. He said that "one of the things I love about working for Toyota is that it has always believed its chief purpose in business is to contribute to the betterment of the world. In fact, our long-time motto is 'to enrich society through building cars'."
Press said that new products are the key to reaching that goal and winning ever larger sales volumes.
To reach that end, he said, Toyota needs to focus on speed and innovation "to enliven our business."
Speed does not refer here to the vehicles' ability to go fast, though it certainly could, as any number of consumer studies proves. What Press means is "faster product cycles and the cadence of products we deliver to customers."
Historically, he said, "we've been able to satisfy customers with new products about every seven years or so. But in the Internet Age, that's an eternity. Today, it's all about replacement rates and showroom age. The faster you bring fresh products to market, the better your sales and profits."
Since the quick cadence of new products is absolutely vital for success in today's business, Press said, "we plan to launch 16 all-new or major-change Scion, Toyota and Lexus products in the next 30 months alone." We still aren't getting Scion in Canada, of course, but we should be getting the things from Lexus and Toyota.
As for innovation, Press suggested that we look at conventional engines. There are more efficient today than they've ever been, he pointed out, "and yet we keep making them better."
In California, 20 car models offered by 12 different automakers are rated Partial Zero Emission Vehicles, Press said, and "these cars not only offer the cleanest gasoline engines ever produced, they're built to maintain near zero emissions throughout their entire life on the road."
But Toyota isn't satisfied with that, Press said, "and neither are our customers, so we're inventing a new wave of powertrain technology that's just now coming to market."
Toyota has grabbed the lion's share of the media hysteria over hybrids, of course, but now a lot of the other firms are getting into the market with their own models mating gasoline engines and electric motors.
So said Jim Press, the president and COO of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc at an automotive management seminar in Traverse City, Michigan, recently.
Press said that Toyota's new global president, Katsuaki Watanabe, "recently asked all of us in the Toyota family to redouble our efforts to truly contribute to society in our work today. He told of us of his dream to create future cars that can not only travel across the United States on one tank of gas, but also clean the air while we drive them and prevent accidents and injuries."
While it's "a dream at this point," said Press, "that's where we are headed, and Watanabe has committed to vigorously promoting the research and development needed to get us there."
This kind of vision particularly appeals to Press, it seems. He said that "one of the things I love about working for Toyota is that it has always believed its chief purpose in business is to contribute to the betterment of the world. In fact, our long-time motto is 'to enrich society through building cars'."
Press said that new products are the key to reaching that goal and winning ever larger sales volumes.
To reach that end, he said, Toyota needs to focus on speed and innovation "to enliven our business."
Speed does not refer here to the vehicles' ability to go fast, though it certainly could, as any number of consumer studies proves. What Press means is "faster product cycles and the cadence of products we deliver to customers."
Historically, he said, "we've been able to satisfy customers with new products about every seven years or so. But in the Internet Age, that's an eternity. Today, it's all about replacement rates and showroom age. The faster you bring fresh products to market, the better your sales and profits."
Since the quick cadence of new products is absolutely vital for success in today's business, Press said, "we plan to launch 16 all-new or major-change Scion, Toyota and Lexus products in the next 30 months alone." We still aren't getting Scion in Canada, of course, but we should be getting the things from Lexus and Toyota.
As for innovation, Press suggested that we look at conventional engines. There are more efficient today than they've ever been, he pointed out, "and yet we keep making them better."
In California, 20 car models offered by 12 different automakers are rated Partial Zero Emission Vehicles, Press said, and "these cars not only offer the cleanest gasoline engines ever produced, they're built to maintain near zero emissions throughout their entire life on the road."
But Toyota isn't satisfied with that, Press said, "and neither are our customers, so we're inventing a new wave of powertrain technology that's just now coming to market."
Toyota has grabbed the lion's share of the media hysteria over hybrids, of course, but now a lot of the other firms are getting into the market with their own models mating gasoline engines and electric motors.