Hybrid (Japanese) cars eye the European roads

The European Union’s Commissioner for the Environment Stavros Dimas made headlines recently with his decision to swap his Mercedes for a Japanese hybrid and the European carmakers were vocal in denouncing his decision.
Now, Toyota’s new president for Germany is pushing hybrid cars and “cleaner” motoring in a bid to protect the environment in Europe’s biggest economy. “Climate protection and hybrid technology, which is not so well known in Germany, will be our main goals in the future,” says Keiji Sudo, who has been in charge of Toyota Deutschland for two months.
Hybrid engines, combining electric and petrol-driven motors, will become more efficient and have a greater variety so they can be used in “a wide range of models,” Sudo says.
Toyota has become the world’s number one in hybrid motors since it brought its first model on the market in 1997. Today the Japanese company is far ahead of its German rival BMWs, VW and others in this fuel-efficient technology.
Many competitors are only just starting to offer hybrids, while the Japanese carmaker is already developing third-generation models.
Asked about BMW’S alliance with DaimlerChrysler to develop a hybrid engine, Sudo said: “In the future, we’ll face stiff competition, but at the moment we have the advantage of being in a pioneering role.”
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