Toyota to build Australia’s first hybrid
Posted by Nathan on August 10, 2007
Ford and Holden said it couldn’t be done, but Toyota is out to further differentiate itself in the Australian market by building the first locally produced hybrid car.
Dave Buttner, Toyota’s head of sales in Australia, has confirmed that a hybrid version of either the Camry or Aurion will be built in the manufacturer’s Altona plant, in northern Melbourne. Toyota already markets two of the three hybrid vehicles available in Australia - the Prius and the Lexus RX400h - and the new addition is likely to contain the same Hybrid Synergy Drive technology that exists in the best-selling Prius model, should it follow the hybrids that Toyota markets in the US.
“We want to be the first local manufacturer with green credentials. We want to be known as the company that was first to market,” Buttner says. “We want to be the leader on this issue. We have been looking at the Camry and Aurion for the hybrid and it’s looking like the Aurion. It will go on sale in 2011 or 2012.”
(Source: Daily Telegraph)
August 10, 2007 at 10:18 pm
[...] Original post by Nathan [...]
October 25, 2007 at 9:46 am
[...] So when are we likely to see it? The new version is expected to be released in 2009, and an eventual release in Australia is inevitable given the success of the current model, but when it will arrive in local showrooms is anyone’s guess. It’s likely to depend largely on how fast they can ramp up production to meet the larger Japanese and American markets. Who knows, maybe this new evolution of the Hybrid Synergy Drive technology might even find its way into Toyota’s local hybrid foray. [...]