Toyota denies government funded hybrid
Toyota Motor Corp denied that it had received any funding from the Japanese government to develop its hit Prius gas-electric hybrid car.
Japan's top automaker rejected a March 24 Business Week report that quoted Jim Press, vice-chairman and president of Chrysler LLC and a former board member at Toyota, as saying: "The Japanese government paid for 100 percent of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius."
Press worked for 37 years at Toyota, including the years of research for the Prius, which sent on sale 10 years ago. He left Toyota for Chrysler last September.
Prius has become a global hit because of the appeal of its technology that boosts fuel efficiency by switching between a gas engine and electric motor amid growing concerns about global warming and soaring gas prices.
Toyota said the report was untrue.
"I can say 100 percent that Toyota received absolutely no support - no money, no grants - from the Japanese government for the development of the Prius," Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said.
Toyota received no public money for developing the battery or any other part of the Prius, he said.
In a statement released on Chrysler's media blog, the company said Press "was not speaking negatively of Toyota. ... (but) referenced the close cooperation between the Japanese government and Japanese industry.
"He said the Japanese government strongly supported R&D investment in battery development, and the Prius and other Japanese models benefited from that investment in industry," the statement said.
Press would like to see similar cooperation between government and industry in the United States, Chrysler said.
Japanese companies have a reputation for having close relations with the government, and some private-sector projects receive public money, especially those for clean energy.
But there have been no previous high-profile reports alleging that Toyota's hybrid project received public money.
Agencies
(China Daily 04/04/2008 page16)
