Toyota's Green Bubble Bursting?

Toyota has gotten a lot of mileage out of portraying itself as the greenest, most fuel-efficient car company on the planet, and has reaped the benefits both financially and public relations wise. Yet they are careening toward becoming the most hypocritical car company on the planet by aggressively opposing desperately needed higher U.S. fuel economy standards. Toyota should be worried that their green bubble will burst.

Let's take a little stock here. The company has sold over 1 million hybrids to consumers who'd rather sip gas than guzzle it, and who want to do their part in the battle against global warming.

But now Toyota is teaming up with Detroit's Big Three to scuttle legislation that would raise fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 -- a technologically feasible, and urgently needed step for a country President Bush has admitted is "addicted to oil." When our nation is contributing more C02 pollution than any other -- and fueling the global climate crisis -- isn't it the reasonable thing to do to perhaps, I don't know, become more efficient?

For those customers who bought the Prius long before it was "cool" and thought they were investing in Toyota's vision of a gas-sipping fleet, this latest move is insulting. It's a slap in the face to every driver who has helped make Toyota the first foreign company to surpass all the American car companies in sales. We believed the company when it said it was a leader, that it had a vision to sell a million hybrids a year and make its fleet 100 percent hybrid, that it wanted to help move America beyond our addiction to oil. And now this?

Toyota should know better than to follow the dinosaur logic of Detroit, which claims that the 35 m.p.g. fleet-wide goal is "unattainable." Come on Toyota, why don't you use your new position as the largest American car manufacturer to lead this failing industry forward, not follow its relic Detroit rivals down the road to "assisted suicide" as Tom Friedman labeled it last week in the New York Times.

Whether you own a Toyota hybrid or are in the market for a new car, click on NRDC's call to action here and tell Toyota to get a grip. We must move forward, not backward on fuel economy.


www.StopGlobalWarming.org

Comments

[BTN]

The human impact on the atmosphere is simply too small to have a major effect on global temperatures," Dr Gray said.

He said his beliefs had made him an outsider in popular science.

"It bothers me that my fellow scientists are not speaking out against something they know is wrong," he said. "But they also know that they'd never get any grants if they spoke out. I don't care about grants."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/gore-gets-a-cold-shoulder/2007/10/13/1191696238792.html

[RoxyDriscoll]

So Toyota wants to be of some help in US automakers' assisted suicide. Not a nice thing to do, but from a business point of view can you really blame them?

[pesojoe]

What are you moderators looking for? I ges i cannt spel bad nuf. and not got you dudes sam apenun on stuf. mit as weel go to druge repot.

[drblack]

Technological developments are obviously needed.
I wish Americans had more scientific aptitude as they have in the past.
I want to see energy made "off The Grid"; meaning no more big oil or power companies.
New battery and solar tech could make this happen.

[Binx101]

Once again - an article that is completely based on an isolated fact. Why are you invited to blog here ??? You have omitted the context of Toyota's rejection of the CAFE legislation. Let's just fire off wildly without reading the objection to the regulation. Hello !! If you did a modicum of research, you may have explained why they are against it. You summed up a complicated ballet of deeply political legislative maneuvering into something tasty for yourself, while entirely by-passing facts.

I'm not an apologist for Toyota or any other company. However, I'm not going to unwittingly run cover for your ilk (because we are ostensibly on the same side of the great American divide) and not call you on your repeated, silly and mind boggling under researched assertions. This is your trade-mark gossip.

You make it so difficult to have meaningful dialog because people quote you as an authority. I'm sorry to say - your articles can usually be rated using the South Park - Couric scale and this precious Blog real-estate seems to be simply a place for you to work out a mid-life crisis. Give it a rest and do some reading. You do so much more harm than good in not creating the basis for meaningful discourse.

[Lizzie]

Only yesterday, I was looking for the closest Toyota Dealrship that still had the Prius on its lot. The closest one was too far, but I was willing to use a vacation day (tomorrow) to go to that dealer. Well, no more. I am sad to say that I will now go back to my brother who was also going to buy a Prius as soon as his dealer in the south part of the state could get one for him. I will let him know, if he doesn't already, that Toyota is not the auto company we had hoped and they had hyped.

I hope Honda or Subaru or Volkwagen (which I am happy I own) are grateful to Toyota for my purchase.

[jdm58]

That is the worst reason NOT to buy a Prius that I have ever heard!!! If more people actually purchased Prius, over other vehicles, then Toyota would hear a message from the public that we support green energy. As it is, Joe Public continues to go out and buy gas hogs, so Toyota and others continue to give us what we ask for. I just returned from the State Fair of Texas, where I visited the car exhibit. The Prius was one of the only Hybrids represented (Chevy brought a couple of Hybrid SUVs and Trucks). Honda didn't bother, although Civic is offered as Hybrid. Prius was the best by far in MPG, safety, features, etc.. But most everyone was excited about the new muscle cars and big trucks (yes, this is Texas, but there are people who wish to help the environment even here). Honda was behind in MPG in their represented models by at least 10MPG, Subaru and VW by over 20MPG. SMALL CAR doesn't mean small engine, or low MPG. Unfortunately, E85 and Ethanol were represented BIG TIME. Too many people are confusing reducing our dependance on foreign oil, with reducing greenhouse gas. Since Congress gave huge incentives to producers of E85, as well as car companies to promote it, don't look at it going away anytime soon, even though it reduces gas mileage, and increases CO2 emission. Chalk one up for government meddling in areas where they have no business being. This is what happens when Government interferes in the market!! Thankfully Hyundai said that they were focusing on Hydrogen, hoped to have one on the market in 2 years time.

[dora rice]

why don't we just cut the crap and tell the truth. Americans don't want to part from their beloved macho SUV's or Pick Ups. It seems that's the only thing the average citizen can be macho about. I saw real macho people going water rafting and rock climbing with a volkswagon. But the average guy has nothing to be macho about anymore. He doesn't join the service for 2 years like in the olden days. And he doesn't have the money for mountain climbing or other sports. So he sits in his beloved Rigg. And the heck with where the gas comes from and who dies for it and if the whole country goes down the tubes. If we were a little patriotic ,we would have written of the V-8 and even V 6 engines except for jobs that we need them. But football moms running their kids with V 8 engines all over town, is a crime in todays world. But When you play eventually you have to pay.

[kingcityguru]

Israel recently developed a method to recycle nuclear waste which retains an amazing 90+% of its energy producing capability. Nuclear is the answer to CO2, air pollution, and industrialization of the third world. It is a shame our so called environmentalists are too stuck in the past and with their ideology to push for a real, immediate solution to a problem they say is enormous and imminent.
Maybe they don't want a solution that does not involved controlling the behaviour of others.

[wadenelson1]

Get real. Or go get an engineering degree.

Nuclear waste is a 25,000 year problem. And a damned expensive one at that. Breeder reactors don't work.

And nuclear power has consistently proven itself unsafe in human hands, where greed, stupidity, and all the other human qualities have led to Brown's Ferry, 3-Mile Island, and Chernobyl.

It's precisely because we CAN'T control the behaviour (sic) of others, absolutely, that we can't afford to play with nukes.

[TommyMcCarthy]

Guess I come down somewhere in between the two commentors above. On the one hand I lived through the times of Three Mile Island and the revelations at Hanford, Diablo Canyon, & the still-mysterious death of Karen Silkwood (not to mention the horror of Chernobyl)....and I can tell you that the fear of a nuclear accident, as well as the NRC's shell game regarding waste storage were no joke.

On the other hand; other nations that did not undergo a 25 year taboo on nuclear research and development, (most notably France, Israel, and Japan) are reaping great rewards in terms of both energy independence and vastly reduced carbon emmissions.

Clearly it is time to put ALL energy options on the table. Tragically, the question in this as in so many other areas is can we TRUST our leaders to pursue critically needed energy reforms without lying to us and/or using concerns over climate change and energy security to dupe the public into ill-concieved programs who's real agenda is, as usual, profits for private corporate intrests?

Clearly under the present administration, the answer to this and any other issue requiring trustworthy leaders is a resounding "No"!

Imagine! I have lived to see a time when the BEST we can hope for in our national leaders is that they not lie cheat and steal!!....tm

[kingcityguru]

Hybrid cars are a fraud.
They have less "space" and it is argue require more energy to be made to say nothing of all those batteries that need to be disposed.

Move to all electric like GMs former EV1 (go rent "who killed the electric car?") if you want to solve the pollution problem. If you want to solve the CO2 problem we should all be pushing for the US to reach the same levels as France (80%) when it comes to obtaining electricity from nuclear energy. It is CO2 free, people, and answers both the problem of CO2 and the desire for the developing world to industrialize.

[ragingsenior]

Greetings from SUV country (Republican area).

My husband and I were shocked to learn at the dealers that they were making a larger Highlander for the American market this next year.

Guess they are targeting the younger generation who want large gas burning cars. They've never been though a gas crisis or even a shortage of anything except concert tickets. It's almost like...don't tell me what to do. I won't give up anything.

We planned to buy a hybrid Highlander in 2008. That's no longer in the works. We are still considering a hybrid but a different model.

Toyota is made in America but seems to be taking advantage of their success by ignoring their original goal of fuel efficent vehicles. I see their cars on the highway every where so I know people appreciate the quality and gas savings.

The only plus about those Hummers is that if we are in a crisis our government can confiscate them to use against an enemy. What use are they anyway? They are ugly and gas burners.

[BushBites]

Please don't quote Bush on a pro-environmental message.

Just.

Don't.

[splashy]

Since they are managing to produce cars with great mileage and selling them in England and Japan, how on earth can they actually say with a straight face that it CAN'T be done?

Amazing.

[jobrumo]

Toyota has a marketing edge with the appearance that they are a green car company. If Washington takes action and forces Detroit to increase its fuel efficiency, Toyota's marketplace advantage will narrow. Basically, Toyota is taking advantage of Detroit's laziness. They don't want the government making Detroit wake up.

[ZingoBonMot]

BINGO!!
What better way to eliminate your competition (sorry as it may be...) than to join them in the fight against increasing CAFE standards that would actually help level the playing field?
While Chrysler, Ford and GM will go right on building tank-sized gas hogs, Toyota will be quietly working on ever more fuel-efficient models.
Oil hit an all-time high of $84 a barrel today.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what that's going to mean for the "Big Three".

[CalvinistHobbesian]

Toyota is no corporate messiah. They found a nice way to make a lot of money off of small cars in the Prius, but they'll have to sell a lot more of them to make up for all the Tundras and Land Cruisers and FJs they sell as well. Honda, not Toyota has the highest fleet average mpg, as they don't sell equivalents to these hogs. Toyota's own home market Echo gets better mileage than the Prius, and it's cheaper, simpler, and has no expensive batteries to boot!

[wadenelson1]

Wrong. Toyota sold Prius at or below cost for more than 3 years. They're just now beginning to make a profit on each hybrid sold. AND they have billions in R&D invested in their hybrid development to recoup.

[Blasmich1]

I am an American ex-Pat who has lived in Germany the last twenty years. I just bought a new Volkswagen Caddy, TDI with Diesel Particle Filter and 105 HP
( http://www.vwn.de/caddylife/ )to replace my Renault Kangoo. Its a model not available in America like most fuel efficient vehicles. The reason I chose it was size, I have a family, and fuel economy. It gets about 45 mpg mixed driving and middle 50`s on the Autobahn. Almost 70% of vehicles sold here are now Diesels. Our average fuel economy across the board here is about 43 mpg RIGHT NOW. The kinds of Diesels we have here are nothing like the crappy ones Chrysler made twenty years ago. It does add cost to the car, I could have got same car for about $4,5k less with a gasoline engine. The only thing I think will ever change the minds and habits of Americans on this subject, is if you had to pay the same price for fuel that the rest of the world does. I just filled up the Renault yesterday, 11 Gallons of gas cost me €53,90 ok times 1.42 = $76,5 / 11 = $6,96 per Gallon your money!! Our taxes here on cars are scaled to the displacement of the engine and the amount of pollution it generates. More cost more. Makes sense to me. I make a good living, but it would be literally impossible for me to drive an SUV here. The cost are just to prohibitive. Are there still lots of Porsche's on the Autobahn driving like crazy fast? u bet, but those are also wealthy ppl who can afford the taxes and the fuel cost of such a vehicle. I have always wondered why Ford and Opel, (yes we still have Opel) can sell cars here that meet actual Euro standards and above, but for some reason won`t offer these vehicles to the American public?

[VeggieCar]

I'd love to buy one of those 40 mpg diesel Opel Zafira minivans. (made by GM!) but I can't here in the US. How come? partially becuase big oil refused to remove the sulfer in our diesel fuel up until just this year.

I'm stuck driving a 22 year old Mercedes diesel that doesn't have the proper particulate filters, but still gets 35mpg. Wake up USA! diesel can be cleaner and is certianly more efficient than gasoline. New diesel technology is quiet,powerful, doesn't smoke and lasts 500,000 miles. Plus a diesel engine will run on many different alternative fuels with out modification.

A diesel-electric hybrid in a smaller car is very capable of 80+ mpg with todays' technology.