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| And why shouldn't Toyota's President Fujio Cho and his executive team be proud of their efforts, the Prius shows a solid step forward. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
Toyota President Fujio Cho remarked, "This is a serious option for the future. This is not just a great environmental car. It is a great car, period." But Cho said that Toyota will keep on improving its technology and would like to gradually incorporate the hybrid technology into almost every Lexus and Toyota nameplate in the future; either for fuel economy or higher performance.
Don Esmond, Toyota division general manager said, "We are going to move hybrids into the mainstream consumer mindset."
Toyota is not going to share the newfound technology with licensee Nissan Motor Corp. until 2006. Nevertheless, Ford Motor Co. is using first-generation Prius technology for its Escape hybrid.
With the release of the new technology, Toyota anticipates Prius sales to increase to about 36,000 units annually, a growth of 2,000 units per month.