06/06 DJ Toyota To Up Hybrid Output; Mitsubishi Plans Elec Car-Nikkei
NAGOYA, Japan (Nikkei)--Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) intends to begin production in Thailand and Australia of hybrid cars around 2010 amid intensifying competition in fuel-efficient vehicles as gasoline prices surge, The Nikkei reported in its Saturday morning edition.
In both nations, the company plans to churn out the Toyota Camry Hybrid, which is being positioned as a global strategic vehicle. Plants that already make the regular Camry will be used for the hybrid version. Output is to begin at the end of next year in Thailand and as early as 2010 in Australia. Toyota aims to lift production to around 10,000 units within three to four years.
The automaker already manufactures hybrids in Japan, the U.S. and China, with total production zooming 25% to some 430,000 units in 2007. Output is expected to more than double to 1 million units early next decade.
Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (7211.TO) plans to launch an electric vehicle based on its i subcompact in Japan next year. It will produce an annual 2,000 units or so to start, lifting output to 10,000 in 2011. Exports are to start from 2010, with markets to include the U.K., France and other parts of Europe, as well as Australia, Singapore, the U.S. and elsewhere.
Mitsubishi Motors also aims to bolster output of lithium ion batteries used in the autos.
Environmentally friendly vehicles are more expensive than ones powered by gasoline, with hybrids costing Y400,000 to Y500,000 more. But amid high crude oil prices, average gas expenses have surged to some Y100,000 a year. So for a given distance, fuel and electricity expenses for hybrids are less than half those of gas guzzlers - and about 10% less for electric vehicles.
And thanks to mass production, prices for green autos are falling. As a result, Toyota aims to shrink the cost gap by half to Y200,000. Mitsubishi Motors anticipates selling its electric cars for Y2.5 million to Y3 million, but hopes to quickly bring prices down to below Y2 million.
As cost-competitiveness improves, global demand for Earth-friendly cars is also growing. Sales are rising not only in such advanced nations as Japan and the U.S., but also in places like Southeast Asia. Consumers will also have more options with Toyota and Mitsubishi Motors taking aggressive steps to further expand the areas in which they are sold.
-Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5500
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06/10 DJ Toyota, Nissan To Boost US Output Of Gas-Saving Cars-Nikkei
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) and Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) plan to reconfigure their U.S. manufacturing operations to bolster production of fuel-efficient cars and lower large-vehicle output, The Nikkei reported in its Wednesday morning edition.
Toyota is considering making the Camry midsize sedan at its factory in Indiana. This site has been building the Tundra pickup truck, the Sequoia sport utility vehicle and other large vehicles. With production of other models also seen as a possibility, Toyota will look to improve the facility's utilization rate.
Nissan will ease up on production of the Titan pickup truck and the Armada SUV at its Canton factory in the state of Mississippi, winding down the two-shift operation for these vehicles to just one shift starting June 23.
At the same time, the firm will increase shifts for the Altima midsize sedan from two to three. This is expected to raise combined monthly output of the Altima at Canton and the Smyrna, Tenn., factory by 10% to slightly more than 30,000 units to meet the strong demand for the fuel-efficient sedan.
Hit by the slowing economy and runaway gasoline prices, new-car sales in the U.S. fell slightly more than 10% from a year earlier in May, for a seventh consecutive month of declines. But as fuel-efficient cars did better than gas guzzlers, Japanese automakers' aggregate U.S. market share rose, topping 40% for the first time.
With midsize sedans, such as the Altima and Camry, offering 80-90% better fuel economy than large SUVs, Japanese automakers' market share in the U.S. will likely grow further at the expense of General Motors Corp. (GM) and other local carmakers, for which large vehicles are heavily represented in their lineups.

-Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5500

(END) Dow Jones Newswires