The hybrid version of North America's bestselling car, the Toyota Camry, has started production of its 2012 model in Taiwan, with 7,000 vehicles expected to roll out for the local market by the end of the year.
Toyota said production started on February 15 at its production affiliate, Kuozui Motors, Ltd.
As with the rest of the Camry line, this year's Camry Hybrid is on an all-new platform, although on the outside it is identical to the previous model.
Gas mileage is at 5.7 liters per 100 kilometers, from 7 liters per 100 kilometers in the previous model. Non-hybrid Camrys consume 9.4 liters for the same distance.
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The vehicles will be sold from 1 million to 1.4 million Taiwan dollars, or $36,000-47,000, cheaper than the U.S. models by $1000.
Toyota, currently the world's largest hybrid maker, has sold 178,805 Camry Hybrids in the United States since 2006. Its most recent version started selling in November last year, with expected sales of at least 50,000 units a year in the U.S.
Toyota's most popular hybrid vehicle, the Prius, had already reached the 2 million mark in 2010, with almost half of it sold in the U.S. alone. Currently there are three Prius variants in the US - the original Prius, the plug-in, and the Prius V.
A hybrid version of the Highlander is also being sold in North America, the first seven-seat hybrid vehicle.
The company's future plans in hybrid vehicles indicate three additional Prius models, a hybrid Yaris, a sports car code-named FT-HS, and two other concept cars one using hydrogen fuel cells and the other made of carbon fiber that weighs a third of the current Prius.
"With environmental and energy-conservation consciousness in Taiwan rising every year, we hope to supply the Taiwanese market with as many hybrids as possible," said Kuozui president Haruaki Hoshino.
– EcoSeed Staff
