Reference Auto

Eyeing a big push in the developed markets, the world’s largest carmaker, Toyota, has already been doing some futuristic thinking – of launching a mind blowing 11 hybrid models in a span of two years.

These environment-friendly vehicles will most likely cater to markets such as the US, Europe and even Japan. Clearly, the Japanese car giant is not eyeing emerging markets such as China and India at the moment, as stringent green norms are yet to be put in place in these two countries.

But the duo (India and China) hold enormous potential and cannot be ignored in the long run. Just that green norms will have to come up as per global standards. More importantly, massive awareness campaigns need to be undertaken in these two countries to raise buyers’ knowledge on the benefits of hybrid vehicles and how they can help save fuel.

The vehicles that Toyota is planning are new as well as redesigned ones which will expand the company’s hybrid engines that are propelled by gasoline and electricity.

Toyota is also betting big on its current breed of hybrids. For instance, it is eyeing a yearly sales of over 50,000 units for its Prius-based plug-in hybrid to be launched by early 2012 in Japan, the US and Europe with a price tag of around $36,045.

It is also contemplating rolling out an all-electric vehicle based on its current iQ minicar, which will hit the roads in Japan and Europe in the near future (may be in six months to a year). There could also be a China launch later.

Even Toyota's rivals are gearing up with their own environment-friendly concept vehicles. Nissan will soon have its all-electric Leaf, which does not produce tailpipe emissions. This car could spearhead Nissan’s green vehicle ambitions.

Toyota recently unveiled its RAV4 EV concept vehicle at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The all-electric version of Toyota's RAV4 sports utility vehicle was made with the aid of Tesla Motors, the US electric vehicle company in which Toyota has a stake.

Till now, Toyota has only forayed into the electric market, which is still at an uncertain stage, as a proper system of recharge is still to be put in place. This could make buyers wary at least in the near term and sales may fail to pick up.

Toyota plans to introduce a fuel-cell powered sedan-type car around 2015 in the US, Europe and Japan. It is also stepping up efforts to develop next generation batteries that will probably perform better than the current lithium-ion models. The new plans come as the automaker works to revive an image hit by safety recalls in the past year owing to acceleration, engine, steering and brake problems. The recalls affected around 12 million vehicles.

Toyota’s plans of launching hybrid models can be applauded but the auto giant must also ensure that it does not hit speed breakers in the process, like the one it hit with electric cars. If its launch of 11 hybrid models turns out to be successful, Toyota is likely to see a giant leap in its earnings in the global market, which is getting more environment-friendly by the day, even though the recalls had dented the auto major’s image quite a bit.