Toyota Prius 2007 News

Cars will inevitably be taxed according to their exhaust emission ratings, the Australian motor industry has conceded.Conservationists are calling on South Australia to take the lead in slapping a tax on vehicles where the fee rises according to the amount of emissions. The tax would be at new-sale time or on annual registration renewals.The Motor Trade Association acknowledged the growing interest in vehicles that are less harmful to the environment.“At some point, governments will tax vehicles on their emissions and greenhouse gas,” MTA state executive director John Chapman told The Advertiser .“We are not advocating that, but it will come.”Mr Chapman said the swing to smaller cars and the flattening off of large-car sales was due to motorists' concern about fuel economy.“People are more environmentally aware and wanting to know how we can reduce the (environmental) footprint and what they can do,” he said.Mr Chapman said motor vehicles were only a partial contributor to greenhouse gases “but our industry needs to be concerned about these issues.”Some countries already have vehicle taxes depending on each model's carbon dioxide emissions.In Australia, each new car must carry a sticker on the windscreen showing its officially-rated fuel consumption in litres/100km and its “greenhouse” C02 emissions in grams/km. The latter figure determines levels of taxing overseas.The Conservation Council in SA wants a similar system here.“It has to be user pays,” said council chief executive Julie Pettet. “If you are responsible for pollution you are going to have to pay.”Ms Pettet said such taxing should not be just punitive but also reward those doing the right thing such as using public transport. She added the taxes should be a federal activity.   Top-rated Toyota Prius: 1.5-litre petrol and electric (4.4litre/100km)Fiat Punto: 1.4-litre petrol (5.7)Peugeot 207CC: 1.6-litre petrol (5.8)Citroen C3: 1.6-litre petrol (6.2)Mercedes-Benz A150: 1.5-litre petrol (6.7)Holden Astra: 1.8-litre petrol (7.4)Honda Civic: 1.8litre petrol (6.9) 

Toyota will wait for an Australian Government hand-out before it decides whether to push the button on a third model line and a likely hybrid.But firm plans for a third vehicle to join the Camry and the V6-powered Aurion on the Altona assembly line in Melbourne will have to wait until after the fast approaching federal election.A Camry or Aurion petrol/electric hybrid is almost certain as Toyota continues its green message.Speculation on a third model has heightened at a time when Toyota has launched the second-generation Kluger SUV, which is delivering a front-drive variant for the first time.There is little chance a hybrid version of the recently launched second-generation Kluger will make it to Australia. As the sole major right-hand-drive market for the Kluger, there is almost no chance of Toyota giving the go-ahead for one here.David Buttner, Toyota Australia's executive director of sales and marketing, says an Australian-built Camry or Aurion hybrid is a strong possibility but will not occur until the next model cycle in about 2011.“We want to build a hybrid in this country and we want to build one at Altona,” Buttner confirmed.“We're now talking about Camry or Aurion and it's the right time with the mood at the moment and the governments are seen to be green.”There are increasing numbers of private buyers of Toyota's Prius hybrid sedan, accounting for about 39 per cent of sales, as opposed to predominantly government orders for the expensive $37,400 sedan.“While government demand remains strong for the Prius there is a real shift in thinking out in the market about hybrids,” Buttner said.“So if we can be first to market (with a hybrid Camry or Aurion), I think it gives us a lot of credibility in the marketplace.”The global body line Toyota has in place at the Altona assembly plant has the flexibility where platforms can be rolled in and out and it can handle three sizes.“We have got no firm plans on the drawing board to fill that with a specific model just yet,” Buttner said.“The government has shown a lot of interest and we believe there would be something forthcoming from the government.“There's been a few grants handed out lately with Ford and GM for research and development-type projects and we haven't been a recipient of one of those funds yet and we haven't put our hand up.“But if we go forward, possibly with hybrid, we'd certainly put our hands up and certainly be having some discussions with the government.”Buttner said it would not make sense to make hybrid versions of both the Aurion and Camry because initial demand would not be enough.Costs of hybrids have come down as economies of scale and production techniques have changed.“When it first started with the Prius being built in Japan in an offline-type situation, that's expensive production. But now it's thrown into the mainstream production line and you've got a couple more suppliers who have come on-stream so the cost will come down.” 

Toyota Australia is planning to build a hybrid version of its family-sized Camry or Aurion and have it on sale within four years.Toyota's head of sales and marketing, Dave Buttner says one will get the hybrid petrol-battery system.Toyota sells three imported hybrids, the Prius, based on the Corolla; a Lexus prestige sedan, the GS450h; and all-wheel-drive wagon, the RX400h, while a V8 luxury saloon, the LS600hl is due later this year.The home-grown hybrid would be built on the same lines as the Camry and Aurion at Toyota's Altona plant.“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.”Toyota has been encouraged by the take-up rate of its hybrid Prius.“When launched, 3 per cent of sales went to private buyers, now it's 39 per cent,” Buttner says."Demand for our Lexus hybrids is double (our) expectations."  

Being top of the class is just as important for carmakers as it is for school students.Which is why the failure of the Honda Civic hybrid and Skoda Fabia to score the maximum five-star rating in the latest European New Car Assessment Program results may not please their parents.Both small cars achieved a four-star rating out of a possible five, which is above average but not excellent.By comparison, there are plenty of other five-star small cars available, including the latest Peugeot 207, Toyota Corolla, Holden Astra, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Citroen C4 and Fiat Punto.For the Civic and Fabia, the devil is in the detail.The Fabia lost a point for containing dangerous structures in the dashboard, which presented an injury risk to adult occupants.It also lost two points for child protection and scored two stars in the ever under-performing pedestrian protection category.The Civic hybrid lost a point for adult protection because the driver's airbag did not prevent the dummy's head from connecting with the steering wheel.However, it performed far better for child protection and pedestrian protection.The Civic hybrid is the second environmentally concerned car tested by Euro NCAP.The first was the Toyota Prius in 2004, which managed a five-star score for adult occupant protection. The latest results have been eagerly anticipated because European fleet buyers and consumers are increasingly seeking vehicles with lower CO2 emissions and higher safety scores, to benefit from the growing use of tax incentives.Euro NCAP's secretary-general, Adrian Hobbs, says consumers may ask themselves whether high safety scores and a hybrid powertrain can go hand in hand.“Honda and Toyota have shown they are rising to the challenge in their efforts to meet concerns about safety and global warming,” he says. “It is now up to other manufacturers to follow in their footsteps.”The front-impact test is conducted at 64km/h into an offset deformable barrier, the side-impact test at 50km/h, the pole test 29km/h and the pedestrian tests 40km/h.

Other carmakers including General Motors and Ford Motor of the U.S.  are developing plug-in hybrids, a key technology that reduces the gases causing global warming.Plug-in cars have batteries to power an electric motor and there also is an internal combustion engine for use when the batteries run low, which are then recharged from a standard wall outlet.However, they run longer on electricity especially for shorter distances than the conventional hybrids on the roads such as Toyota's Prius.The Prius switches between an electric motor and gas engine for better mileage; it does not need to be plugged in to recharge because recharging occurs when the car is in use, converting energy from the wheels and braking.Toyota said, it was the first maker to receive government approval to conduct tests for a plug-in hybrid on Japanese public roads and will collect information about the tests from eight such vehicles.Mass production of plug-ins is being held back by costs and battery technology that limit the vehicles' range.Although most carmakers are working on hybrids, Toyota has the advantage of 10 years of experience in selling cars using conventional hybrid technology and using driver reaction to make improvements, rather than relying on information from labs. 

The world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, the Toyota Prius, was launched in Japan in 1997. It reached North America, Europe and here in 2000. The company now makes hybrid minivans, SUVs, rear-wheel-drive sedans and other vehicles. Last month, Toyota announced the sale of its one millionth hybrid worldwide while Toyota Australia set a monthly record of 380 Prius sales. Toyota Australia's senior executive director of sales and marketing, David Buttner, said increased availability of the Prius, along with greater environmental consciousness was a key driver for sales. In Australia, the only hybrids we see are the Honda Civic, Toyota Prius and Lexus RX400h SUV and GS 450h saloon. The LS 600h comes later this year. Lexus is the luxury arm of Toyota. So far this year, only 2081 hybrids have been sold here out of a total market of 419,279 or just 0.5 per cent. Of these, 1290 (62 per cent) were bought by governments. The Queensland Government recently announced sales tax increases on new vehicles, but kept the level at 2 per cent for hybrids. It is one of the few state or federal government incentives for hybrids in this country. That compares with a raft of hybrid incentives in the US, Europe and the UK such as personal and company tax rebates, free parking and transit lane use regardless of occupant numbers. While hybrids are an economic boon in LA's stop-start and slow-moving traffic, they are no more fuel miserly than a diesel in moderate or highway traffic. Apart from fuel economy, the other selling factor is the lack of greenhouse gases. But diesels with particulate filters can be just as environmentally sound in certain conditions. Toyota has calculated that as of April 30, 2007, worldwide sales of its hybrid vehicles since 1997 have produced about 3.5 million fewer tonnes of CO2 compared with petrol-powered similar vehicles. However, some point out that the “whole-of-life” environmental impact of hybrids is affected by disposing every 10 years of the large battery with its lethal contents. Also, according to the latest NRMA running costs surve; hybrids not only have higher initial costs but also depreciate faster. Meanwhile, LPG car sales and conversions have outpaced Federal Government expectations, since the launch of their subsidy scheme last August. The scheme provides a $2000 rebate for private motorists, who convert a petrol-powered vehicle to run on LPG Autogas and a $1000 rebate for the private purchase of a new LPG vehicle. Despite more than $100 million in grants being paid out to more than 52,000 motorists, Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said the subsidy would continue until 2014.  

General Motors has awarded contracts to companies to help speed up development of its plug-in electric car the Chevrolet Volt, chairman Rick Wagoner said yesterday.Mr Wagoner, speaking at the company's annual shareholders meeting, also said GM would introduce four new hybrid models this year.The contracts to design and test lithium-ion batteries went to Michigan-based Compact Power and to Continental Automotive systems, Mr Wagoner said.“Given the huge potential that the Volt and its E-flex system offers to lower oil consumption, lower oil imports and reduced carbon gas emissions, this is for sure a top priority program for GM,” he said.The Volt, unveiled in January at the Detroit Auto Show, has a battery-powered electric motor that can run the car for up to 64km on a single charge. Beyond that, a petrol-powered, one-litre, three-cylinder engine can generate electricity to replenish the battery, giving the car a range of up to 1030km, GM said.GM's announcement came as Honda said it will discontinue the hybrid version of its Accord sedans, conceding Toyota's dominance with the hit Prius hybrid.GM shareholders voted down a series of stockholder initiatives, including a bylaws change proposed by the Community of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell, New Jersey, that the company set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel efficiency.

The Japanese car maker now owns a massive 21.9 per cent of the market, a rise of 0.6 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year.Australia's leading seller has surged to 91,984 sales to the end of May compared with 82,227 for the first five months of last year.Toyota is driving the industry to continued forecasts that more than a million vehicles will be sold for the first time in a calendar year in Australia.The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has nominated an annualised rate (SAAR) of 1.022 million vehicles for 2007.Chief contributors to Toyota's booming figures are the four-cylinder Camry while the 4 x 2 and 4 x 4 variants of the HiLux have recorded huge jumps along with the Yaris and the introduction of the V6 Aurion.Significantly, since improved supply, the petrol/electric Prius has more than doubled on 2006 figures with 1333 sold to the end of May compared with 625 for the same period last year.Toyota continues to punch above the performance of the total market.“Our aspirations are always to grow bigger than the market,” Toyota Australia chairman Emeritus John Conomos said at the launch recently of the 10th generation Corolla.“No one has ever achieved 25 per cent of the market in modern times before.“It's probably not achievable this year but it's a goal worth setting.”Holden remains in Toyota's shadow. It has increased sales from 60,792 to 61,863 year-on-year, but its market share is down from 15.7 to 14.8 per cent.Ford is a clear number three but has slipped almost 5000 sales year-on-year and has lost 2 per cent market share which now stands at 10.5 per cent.Mitsubishi continues to claw its way back and is moving up on Nissan in a fight for fifth spot.Those models selling well for Mitsubishi have been the Lancer, Outlander, Pajero and the Triton 4 x 4 although the model which the Adelaide maker has staked its future on, the 380, has declined from 5176 to 4641 in year-on-year figures.On the luxury front, BMW recorded its second successive monthly record with 1497 vehicles finding owners, taking its year-to-date tally to 6462.What has been a massive seller for BMW has been the new hardtop 3-series convertible and coupe with combined sales standing at 1170 compared with 313 this time last year.While sales of the X5 Sport Utility Vehicle remain robust and Z4 convertible and coupe sales have grown by a massive 49.4 per cent it is the two-door 3-series models which have allowed BMW to gain significant market momentum.BMW customer deliveries last month were 11.7 per cent higher than May 2006, adding an extra 157 units to last May's record figure.Volkswagen, the only European importer to make the top 10 list, has lifted its year-on-year volume share to 2.6 per cent from 1.9 per cent with sales topping 10,918 to the end of May.

But the Toyota Prius is much more than a fashion statement. The hybrid green car, which can run on petrol and electricity, has just been named the most satisfying car to own in a poll of motorists. Showrooms have reported exceptional demand for the Prius, especially in London, where there is a two-month waiting list and where the car is exempt from the £8-a-day congestion charge. This is the first time the Japanese family car has been included in the annual league table of British motorists' satisfaction. Nine of the top 12 places were taken by Japanese models either those belonging to Toyota, its luxury arm Lexus or rival Honda. First place was shared by the Lexus IS and the Prius. Both scored 86.8 per cent against an industry average of 79 per cent. The Skoda was the only European manufacturer to make the top 12. Three of its cars ranked in the leading dozen. Hollywood actors who use the Prius include Leonardo diCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Jane Fonda, Harrison-Ford and Meryl Streep. In Britain, it is favoured by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and the Liverpool footballer Harry Kewell. The late DJ John Peel also drove one. The Prius switches between petrol and electric power to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas blamed for global warming. With its electric motor and petrol engine, it averages about 65.7miles per gallon. Worst ranked out of 113 cars, was the Smart Roadster, followed by the Chrysler Voyager and Grand Voyager a past favourite. The poll was complied by global quality experts J.D Power in association with What Car? magazine. It was based on feedback from motorists after two years of ownership. What Car? editor Steve Fowler said the Toyota Prius clearly demonstrated that car owners think green is good. 'We know there's an increase in consumer interest in environmentally friendly cars here in the UK, and with the Prius topping the model rankings in the 2007 study, we may be seeing a trend emerging,” he said.

Occasionally use a bicycle to commute, or use public transport, and you'll probably be eligible to drive a V12 sports car on Sunday.Hypothetical? Not according to the Australian Greenhouse Office, which argues that hybrid cars aren't the answer.Bigger reductions in greenhouse gases — which include carbon-dioxide, nitrous oxides and methane — are possible around the house.The office also reports that passenger cars contribute 7 per cent of Australia's total greenhouse-gas emissions — less than the nation's cow and sheep population emit through flatulence.Bushfires beat both, but the doozy is the greenhouse gases emitted to produce electricity — a whopping 35 per cent of Australia's total. Unless new and cleaner power sources for electricity generation are found, Australia — and the world — won't be able to justify mass use of plug-in electric cars.Think GM's aborted electric car was part of a conspiracy? It wasn't, but it made for an interesting film, Who Killed The Electric Car?.Basically, if all the 11 million passenger cars on Australian roads were suddenly converted to plug-in electric power, there would be no car emissions. But the electricity required to charge these cars would create a massive increase in greenhouse gases.Current electric plug-in cars marketed in the US and Europe require an average of 0.25kWh for each kilometre travelled.Electricity from a combination of gas and coal-fired stations in Australia produces 0.99kg of carbon-dioxide equivalent (CO2 which adds to other greenhouse gases) for 1kWh according to the Sustainable Energy Development Office.An electric car travelling 20,000km a year indirectly produces 4950kg of CO2 a year.By comparison, a Toyota Prius hybrid emits 2120kg of CO2 a year; a Toyota Camry petrol four-cylinder 4660kg; a Holden Commodore V8 6600kg; a Volkswagen Golf diesel 2980kg; and a Smart Fortwo 2260kg (source: Australian Greenhouse Office).Even a BMW X5 SUV diesel emits 4620kg — 330kg a year less greenhouse gas than an electric car.Of course, there are emissions from refining oil and gas. In Australia, that is estimated at "less than 4 per cent" of all energy emissions.Future electric cars are expected to have more efficient batteries, with the Lotus Elise-based Tesla prototype claiming 0.16kWh/km — resulting in 3168kg of CO2 a year.Change the electricity station to natural gas — which emits only 0.21kg per 1kWh — and electric cars start to make a difference.Change to sustainable power — wind or solar — and we will have virtually emission-free transport. That won't happen overnight.What can happen is a substantial reduction in greenhouse gases through simple changes to our houses. Each Australian household produces an average of 15 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.On a per capita basis, that makes us one of the world's worst greenhouse gas polluters.This is because most of our electricity comes from coal burnt in one of the 24 power stations around the country.In the period 1999-2004, greenhouse emissions from electricity generation in Australia rocketed 50.4 per cent.In the same period, passenger car emissions rose 18 per cent — up because there are more cars on the road, but comparatively modest because car manufacturers are making "cleaner" cars.If every Australian motorist is serious about becoming green, they can cut car use by 30 per cent. Walk, use public transport or cycle.Do this and motorists will reduce the nation's greenhouse emissions by 2.5 per cent.However, we can achieve that same 2.5 per cent reduction by reducing our electricity use by 7 per cent.Change the incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, turn off electrical appliances that have a standby mode, take shorter showers, change from electricity to gas or solar hot-water heating, raise the airconditioning temperature by 1C or 2C in summer, turn off lights in unoccupied rooms, and so on.Simply, legislation should be focused on how green we build new houses, not just new cars. The bottom line is we all have to become smarter and that includes car use. Just stop blaming the car for all our greenhouse woes.Do you agree with Neil Dowling's view? carsguide.com.au Things you should knowAustralia's total greenhouse emissions were 564.7 million tonnes recorded in 2004 (the latest data available).Livestock generated 65 million tonnes of the greenhouse gas methane, while passenger cars emitted 41.7 million tonnes.It takes 22 years and 10 months of driving at 20,000km a year for the $37,400 Toyota Prius to finally equate to the price differential of the $19,990 Toyota Corolla, assuming $1.20 a litre for petrol. But in that time, the Corolla dumps 30.5 tonnes more CO2 into the air than the Prius.If every household in Australia installed one energy-efficient light, it would equal a drop in emissions of taking 130,000 cars off the road.Appliances on standby account for one-eighth of household energy-related greenhouse gas emissions.Further information: greenhouse.gov.au