Toyota Increases Prius Allotment for U.S. by Over 40%

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 11 -- Toyota released its first comprehensive North America Environmental Report today, detailing the company's progress and plans in the design, manufacture, sale and recycling of vehicles.

The report was released at Toyota's second environmental seminar, held in conjunction with the Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas (EVAA) Electric Transportation Industry Conference in Sacramento, California. At the seminar, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Toyota Motor Corporation Senior Managing Director, announced that the U.S. would receive a significant increase from Prius' initial allotment to meet growing demand in the U.S. The increase will bring the annual number of the world's first mass-produced gas-electric hybrid vehicle available to 17,000.

``As a core philosophy, Toyota continuously strives to better tune its automotive products to the needs of the earth,'' said Toshiaki ``Tag'' Taguchi, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, Inc., who spoke at the seminar. ``The release of our environmental report and the Prius allotment increase are the latest signs of our commitment to environmental responsibility and continued progress towards sustainable development.''

The seminar also featured Paul R. Portney, president of Resources for the Future, a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank that conducts independent research on environmental and natural resource issues. Mr. Portney also is chairman of the National Academy of Sciences panel that advised the U.S. Congress on the success of current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations. The panel made suggestions on improvements for the program if Congress and/or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) decides to rework the regulations.

Also at the seminar, Hiroyuki Watanabe gave an update on Toyota's global efforts towards emissions reduction, California's ZEV program, developments with hybrid powertrain and fuel cell hybrid technologies and advanced fuels.

Toyota's North America Environmental Report is a companion piece to the North American Manufacturing Environmental Report issued earlier this year and the global environmental report produced by Toyota Motor Corporation.

The report reflects the company's holistic approach to environmental stewardship and commitment to continuous improvement at every stage of the life cycle of its products, from design to dismantling. Results to date and future goals are highlighted in four sections:

-- Developing Cleaner Vehicles Today and Tomorrow -- Making Manufacturing Cleaner and More Efficient -- Greening Sales, Distribution and Service -- Recycling End-of-Life Vehicles

Some of the key goals outlined in the report include:

-- Among full-line manufacturers, secure the top levels of fuel efficiency in all vehicle classes and continue to exceed CAFE standards;

-- By 2005, reduce energy usage by 15 percent per unit of production from the 2000 base year, which in turn decreases CO2 emissions by 15 percent per unit of production;

-- Within two years, develop a database to track greenhouse gas emissions associated with sales and distribution operations,

-- Implement material and design strategies that will increase the recyclability of vehicles and meet a goal of a 95 percent vehicle recovery rate by 2015.