gcarter
04-04-2008, 12:23 AM
...or is it?
PHILIP NUSSEL, AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
Chrysler co-President Jim Press is stirring things up at his former employer, Toyota Motor Corp., by saying development of the Prius hybrid was subsidized by the Japanese government.
In a BusinessWeek story published Thursday, March 24, Press said that when he was at Toyota, “The Japanese government paid for 100 percent of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius.”
Toyota today denied the remark made by Press, who left Toyota last year after a long career at the Japanese automaker. His last position there was president of Toyota Motor North America Inc.
“I can say 100 percent that Toyota received absolutely no support--no money, no grants--from the Japanese government for the development of the Prius,” Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco told The Associated Press today in Tokyo.
According to the report, Nolasco said Toyota received no public money for developing the battery or any other part of the Prius.
The Prius dominates the U.S. hybrid market. During the first quarter, Toyota sold 42,907 Priuses, up 8.1 percent over the same period a year ago. In 2007, Toyota sold 181,221 Priuses, up 69.4 percent over 2006.
Press’ comment was in a broader story about new corporate average fuel economy standards passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in December.
Press, a longtime advocate for hybrid technology, told BusinessWeek the new laws were “just part of the political process.”
PHILIP NUSSEL, AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
Chrysler co-President Jim Press is stirring things up at his former employer, Toyota Motor Corp., by saying development of the Prius hybrid was subsidized by the Japanese government.
In a BusinessWeek story published Thursday, March 24, Press said that when he was at Toyota, “The Japanese government paid for 100 percent of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius.”
Toyota today denied the remark made by Press, who left Toyota last year after a long career at the Japanese automaker. His last position there was president of Toyota Motor North America Inc.
“I can say 100 percent that Toyota received absolutely no support--no money, no grants--from the Japanese government for the development of the Prius,” Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco told The Associated Press today in Tokyo.
According to the report, Nolasco said Toyota received no public money for developing the battery or any other part of the Prius.
The Prius dominates the U.S. hybrid market. During the first quarter, Toyota sold 42,907 Priuses, up 8.1 percent over the same period a year ago. In 2007, Toyota sold 181,221 Priuses, up 69.4 percent over 2006.
Press’ comment was in a broader story about new corporate average fuel economy standards passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in December.
Press, a longtime advocate for hybrid technology, told BusinessWeek the new laws were “just part of the political process.”