Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Toyota Believes in the Future of Its Hybrid Vehicles

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By 2020 Toyota expects hybrid vehicles to be 20% of global car market

Takeshi Uchiyamada, a top engineer for car make Toyota, made some interesting predictions this week. He expects that hybrid vehicles, including extended-range plug-in hybrids, will become 20% of all global car sales by 2020.

You might be wondering what these predictions are based on. Well, the Toyota's executive vice president overseeing R&D and engineering pointed out that hybrid car sales are already 20% of annual vehicle sales in Japan, but that most of the developing world is at or below 10 % in hybrid sales. But obviously he believes that these markets will develop in the same way the Japanese market has.

What will Toyota's market share in hybrid vehicle sales be?

What car manufacturer Toyota's market share of the hybrid car market pie would be, is something the Toyota engineer refused to expand on though. Up until a shirt while ago, Toyota's market share in hybrid vehicle sales in the United States had been as high as 80%. However, it has slipped a little bit since new competitors have entered the market.

Toyota does plan to continue its successful run with its high hybrid car sales and hopes to further expand its hybrid presence in all vehicle markets, including in the United States with the Prius V, Prius C and Prius Plug-In by the middle of next year.

According to Takeshi Uchiyamada, the automotive company also hopes to double the U.S. sales volume of the Toyota Camry to about 50,000 units in 2012. On the European car market, a hybrid version of the redesigned Yaris will be released.

Toyota production management in relation to hybrid car sales growth?

For the car manufacturer to be able to meet the expected rise in demand, the production process needs to be adapted. That is why car maker Toyota is looking into using suppliers outside Japan to build hybrid components. After the March earthquake in Japan, it became clear to the company that it is too dangerous to rely on a single source for key components.

Toyota engineer's predicts grim future for electric vehicles

Up until now, Toyota has concentrated on building hybrid cars and plug-in hybrids to live up to the increasing demand for 'green vehicles'. Electric cars have not been a priority for the car brand. So it doesn't come as much of a surprise that Uchiyamada doesn't predict a positive future for electric vehicles.

He expects that electric vehicles will fall short of their hype. "Based on the current data, the targets announced by other players show they are not on track," Uchiyamada said. "Compared to the target, it's pretty disappointing for them."
 
I'm currently work as an SEO specialist and copywriter for an online car auction company that sells used cars. For this company I also write a blog with automotive news.
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