For a substantial number of years now, Toyota’s Prius has been the primary hybrid vehicle in the auto industry and continues to remain triumphant in popularity and revenues in spite of the many competitive automobiles quite easily obtainable. The trend in Europe, the US and a substantial number of Asian countries like Japan and Korea has been increasingly shifting to completely electric automobiles and this industry has been witness to a vast flood of funding from both the private sector and governments. But Toyota appears to be standing off while other car producers are galloping ahead with the introduction of cars like the Chevrolet’s Volt and Nissan’s Leaf.
Toyota officially became the leading auto fabricator on the planet in early 2007, beating the US automobile giant General Motors, who had previously maintained the top spot from the early nineteen thirties. A car that once embodied the intrusion of Japanese cars in the US has fared really well in the new US Consumer Assistance Recycle and Save Act of 2009 or as more generally recognized, Cash for Clunkers. The payoff was offered to vehicle buyers who were content to trade in select cars for new, more fuel effective, environmentally friendly automobiles. Toyota came out the leader with two of its models in the top three automobiles sold in this program, exhibiting the auto buyer’s confidence in Toyota as a green auto fabricator.
The Prius has perpetually been the incarnation of Toyota’s dedication to fabricating fuel-economical and environmentally friendly vehicles. The name is suitably adopted from the Latin word denoting ‘preceding’ and when it was inaugurated all through the globe in 2001, the Prius swiftly became an symbol of the fresh generation of automobiles to come. Regular consumers to Hollywood actors acquired the car as a demonstration of their enthusiasm to the cause of a safer world. However, it took approximately ten years after its development and original introduction to earn profits from this innovative project.
In the existing economic crisis, Toyota has had its average share of difficulties. In spite of ensuing deficit in the preceding couple of years, it has performed comparably better compared to other auto producers. However, in tumultuous days like these, Toyota appears to have promoted a guarded plan to the new electric car technology and pay attention primarily on the top performing models, trying to get as much as manageable out of the tested and accepted hybrid technology. Toyota has learned effectively from its many years of achievements in the automotive business and in spite of the fact that skeptics appear to worry that Toyota will falter when the technology ultimately becomes commercially worthwhile, I seriously doubt Toyota has much to worry about.
The main barrier in the commercial accomplishment of electric automobiles is the giant transformation in infrastructure essential to support these cars. Electric cars can at present run sixty-five to seventy kilometers with no recharging, hugely limiting the travel distance. Additionally, there is no one accepted charging technique in place, with several alternatives like plug in recharge and battery swap being worked upon. Experts gauge that it will take around ten to fifteen years before an acceptable support network is accessible for a large amount of these automobiles to be efficiently used for daily utilization.
The tale of the turtle and the rabbit would be a relevant analogy in this situation. In spite of Toyota’s capability to introduce an electric car in a considerably brief period of time, it has decided to take the guarded path and consolidate its primary spot with prevailing technologies. After all slow and steady did win the competition, and the race has just begun.
