Is Toyotas Camry Scheduled to be the Next Hybrid?

Reports State that Camry Hybrid will Debut in 2006

Despite Hondas efforts to offer partial- or mild-hybrid gasoline-electric powertrains in its quirky and hardly practical two-seat Insight and more user-friendly Civic, Toyota is the dominant force.

Not only does its most recent Prius offer midsize spaciousness for the same price as its compact predecessor, but its a full-hybrid system that offers many benefits over partial systems. And Toyota isnt the only manufacturer touting its capabilities, with Ford becoming the most recent to license components for its upcoming Escape Hybrid and Nissan to license the entire setup for a soon-to-be-released Altima Hybrid.

Joining the Prius, as well as the Toyota Highlander hybrid and Lexus LX 400h set to arrive before fall of 2004, will be a Toyota Camry hybrid due out in 2006, according to last Fridays Nihon Keizai newspaper in Japan.

News agency Reuters, reporting on the Japanese business dailys story, stated that Toyota was targeting North America as its main source of 100,000 hybrid Camry sales per annum. North America is already responsible for more than 400,000 Camry sales per year, which incidentally is the most sales of any passenger car.

Offering a standard response to questions about future products, Toyota spokesman Shinya Matsumoto would not comment to the reporting newspaper, instead saying, "We do not talk about our product plans."

But while no official announcement has been made, Toyota is on record stating that it has plans of producing 300,000 hybrids annually by mid-decade, and it would be difficult for the automaker to reach such a lofty target with just Prius, Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX400h sales alone.

Whats more, the current Prius, originally produced in its own facility, is now built alongside Toyotas gasoline-only powered models, as will be the two upcoming SUVs. It only makes sense that Toyota would want to extend hybrid use into other segments of the market, especially now that rival Nissan will be entering the midsize category with its Altima hybrid. Toyota, of course, has much invested in Nissan being successful, as the Japanese number-two automaker will use a version of number-one Toyotas Hybrid Synergy Drive system, as previously mentioned.

Rival Honda has plans in the works for an Accord hybrid to be sold into the North American market this coming fall, but for the most part Hondas hybrid sales numbers are nowhere near Toyotas, according to the report, which dilutes its threat. Hondas Accord Hybrid will also be a mild-hybrid, following the lead of its current hybrid production cars, which will also diminish the cars desirability to the highly educated eco-minded target consumer.

Costs for consumers to adapt to the technology have been its major drawback, but according to the Reuters report analysts feel that Toyota should be capable of reducing costs by the Camry hybrids 2006 target line-off, making it advantageous for prospective customers to go green. If the current rise in oil prices maintains an upward trajectory consumers will have yet another reason to adopt hybrid technology.