Camry Hybrid Set To Storm  Market

Toyota will assemble hybrid Camrys in Australia and Thailand to help develop the popularity of hybrid vehicles worldwide.
The Camry Hybrid will go into production in 2010 at Toyota Australia's factory near Melbourne with an annual target of 10,000 units and in Thailand from 2009 where the target is 9,000 vehicles a year.
Toyota's President, Katsuaki Watanabe, said during a media conference in Nagoya, Japan: "We decided to build the Camry Hybrid in Australia because Australians are keenly aware of environmental issues, including global warming, and we are confident the Camry Hybrid will be well received there
'Australians are keenly aware of environmental issues' -Katsuaki Watanabe."
The conference was attended by leading members of the Australian government, including it Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
In Thailand, Toyota's Mitsuhiro Sonoda said: "Thailand is the first ASEAN country to build hybrid vehicles. As the Camry has received a warm welcome from Thai customers, we are sure they will be satisfied not only with the product but also with its environmental performance."
Since the introduction in 1997 of the Toyota Prius  the world's first mass-produced petrol-electric hybrid vehicle  Toyota has continued to promote hybrid technology as part of its environmental-management policy.
The company wants to sell a million or more hybrids a year from as early as possible in the second decade of the century.
Meanwhile, Hyundai plans to mass produce hybrid cars from 2009; Chairman Chung Mong Koo said this will create new jobs and develop the industry into a growth engine.
“The importance of developing environmentally-friendly cars for sustainable growth is increasing," he said. "Therefore technology for advance cars such as hybrids is imperative.
"We also plan to produce a small fleet of fuel cell electric vehicles from 2012.”
Hyundai will start with the Elantra LPI (liquefied propane injection) hybrid, a car that uses liquid propane gas (LPG) and electricity. It plans to introduce petrol-electric hybrids in 2010.
Hyundai is already supplying Accent hybrid models to government agencies as part of a pilot project. It will expand the line-up to mid-sized Sedans and beyond for mass production, starting from 2009.
The company entered the "green car" market in October 2004 when it supplied the South Korean Government with 50 Getz hybrids. Since then Hyundai and KIA have supplied the government with about 2800 hybrid cars.
Based on the technology accumulated from producing these cars, Hyundai will begin volume production of hybrids using LPG, which creates less pollution than patrol.
It will also begin development aimed at mass production of fuel-cell electric vehicles beginning in 2012. It plans to expand its demo fleet of fuel-cell vehicles to 500 by 2010 as a basis for volume production.