Toyota plans eco-tech to drive shift from oil

With the auto sector’s current business model premised on cheap gasoline prices about to crumble, Toyota Motor Co. plans to have many types of environmental technologies ready for commercialization, President Akio Toyoda said. Appearing at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, Toyoda said auto makers face a once-in-a-century challenge, as the world’s reliance on oil will inevitably come to an end. Toyota plans to start leasing plug-in hybrids rechargeable from standard power outlets to businesses as soon as later this year. As a next step, the company plans to begin mass production of electric vehicles in the United States in 2012. (October 5, 2009)