Toyota to focus on gasoline-electric hybrids

Toyota Motor Corp.’s new President Akio Toyoda, a member of the founding family, announced that the automaker will temporarily abandon its cornerstone policy of offering a full product line-up this year. Instead, the company will focus on meeting local market needs to boost profitability, he said. The company will “start from rock bottom,” Toyoda said, and will determine the areas it needs to push forward and where it will need to withdraw to stay afloat amidst the global economic shakedown. Toyota will continue to put resources into expanding its line-up of eco-friendly cars, focusing particularly on gasoline-electric hybrids, which are getting a boost due to government subsidies for these types of vehicles. (June 25, 2009)