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Toyota will begin building hybrid Camry sedans at its Altona plant from the beginning of 2010.

The hybrid Camry benefits from a four-cylinder petrol engine and a high-voltage motor offering more performance while using less fuel than a conventional petrol Camry - and it will also emit less carbon dioxide.

Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive technology compliments the efficient nature of the electric motor, allowing the hybrid Camry to operate solely on electric power for short distances.

It also provides automatic stop/start for the engine at traffic lights, reclaims energy while braking and uses energy stored in the hybrid battery to boost acceleration performance.

Toyota Australia plans to produce 10,000 hybrid Camry sedans a year in addition to the existing four-cylinder Camry and V6 Aurion sedans produced at the Altona plant in Melbourne’s west.

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Toyota will begin building hybrid Camry sedans at its Altona plant from the beginning of 2010.

The hybrid Camry benefits from a four-cylinder petrol engine and a high-voltage motor offering more performance while using less fuel than a conventional petrol Camry - and it will also emit less carbon dioxide.

Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive technology compliments the efficient nature of the electric motor, allowing the hybrid Camry to operate solely on electric power for short distances.

It also provides automatic stop/start for the engine at traffic lights, reclaims energy while braking and uses energy stored in the hybrid battery to boost acceleration performance.

Toyota Australia plans to produce 10,000 hybrid Camry sedans a year in addition to the existing four-cylinder Camry and V6 Aurion sedans produced at the Altona plant in Melbourne’s west.

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Toyota organised the battery recycling process well before the Prius launch in 2001. A similar method has been followed around the world where Toyota sells its hybrid cars.

“Toyota Australia regards the batteries as a key ecological issue and has had a recycling solution in place for more than seven years,” Toyota Australia senior executive director sales and marketing David Buttner said

The hybrid Camry, which the federal government is funding to the sum of $35 million dollars, will be produced in Australia from 2010 and uses the same nickel-metal hydride batteries as in Prius.

So what happens when your hybrid battery needs recycling? The more important question should be: will it ever need recycling? So far over 10,000 Prius cars have been sold in Australia and only 17 battery packs have had to be replaced. Three have been completely recycled while the rest are being used for research and training.

If you do happen to be one of the 17 that needed a new battery, Toyota dealers around Australia are the central collection points for batteries, which are then transferred to certified Toyota recycling partners in Australia and overseas at no additional cost to the owner.

Toyota’s  Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMh) batteries don’t contain Cadmium, despite what many think. The plastic, metal and copper wire from the batteries are recycled locally while circuit boards and battery elements are exported for recycling.

In case you have an accident and the battery is damaged, Toyota has briefed roadside assistance and emergency service workers how to handle damaged hybrid vehicles.

Recently a Prius taxi was shown to have managed 500,000km on one single battery. More information on that here.

We are interested and encourage Toyota to release information regarding the amount of CO2 pollution created during the entire production and recycling phase of its hybrid batteries.

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However any additional unscheduled servicing for vehicles subjected to heavy usage and harsh driving conditions are not covered under the program, which is limited to three years or 60,000 kilometres of driving.

“Although LandCruiser 70 Series is a workhorse and designed to handle heavy loads, it still endures more wear and tear than other Toyota vehicles, making $250 per service a great saving.”

Toyota estimates that over the six scheduled services, this will amount to a saving of $1528 for LandCruiser 70 Series owners - including GST.

“It’s reassuring, in this time of high petrol prices and on-road vehicle costs, for drivers to know what standard scheduled servicing costs they will incur over the next three years, or 60,000 kilometres, right from the outset of buying a vehicle,” Mr Callachor said.”

The locally manufactured Toyota Camry and Aurion are limited to just four standard scheduled services under the capped price scheduled servicing, while all other Toyota vehicles receive six standard scheduled services.

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It’s strongest performer was the Corolla with more than 5000 sales, closely followed by the HiLux which contributed just over 4500 to the overall total.

With the financial year ending just yesterday, Toyota also announced that it has sold more than 247,500 vehicles for the fiscal year - also an all-time industry record.

No other brand has ever sold more than 200,000 vehicles in any 12-month period in Australia.

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He also intimated that Ford globally was working of “low displacement, forced induction” engine technology, taken to mean small displacement engines that use both turbo and supercharging to provide the power and performance of a much larger engine while offering the fuel efficiency of a small engine.

Ford Australia President Bill Osborne, who normally takes the media briefing but is in the United States where the Australian government is discussing the future of the local automotive industry with both General Motors and Ford, has already said the Falcon will have diesel power by 2010, when it also switches from a locally-made straight six-cylinder engine to an imported V6.

Mr Winslow said Ford definitely saw a lot more diesel-powered cars in its future, along with other developing technologies, but was not really talking about hybrids.

He said the E-Gas Falcon was a proven green vehicle that provided both lower tailpipe emissions and lower running costs.

He cited the example of an E-Gas Falcon XT which he said, run over 25,000 kilometres a year, was $350 cheaper to operate than the best-selling Toyota Corolla.

Mr Winslow said that in the past two years E-Gas Falcons had gone from having residual values $1000 less than a petrol car to commanding a $2500 premium.

Further questioning the rush to hybrids, Mr Winslow posed the question of who would buy all the three year old used hybrids that would head onto the market as a result of the government backed push to encourage Toyota to build 10,000 Hybrid Camry’s a year in Australia.

“We would be concerned about the profile of the second user for such cars, which we expect in the first place will be bought by companies and government.”

He questioned whether typical second-hand private buyers would be keen to take on hybrids, with the potential of costly battery replacement.

“E-Gas on the other hand has the proven record of operating economy plus it is greener, with four per cent less emissions, and that is where Ford is already firmly established.”

Mr Winslow also confirmed that E-Gas was now being built in the new FG Falcon range and said the cars were being shipped to dealers.

He also emphasised that from about 2010 Ford would be pursuing its plans for a diesel engine in the Falcon and added that once the next-generation Focus small car was being built in Australia, it too would offer a locally-made diesel alternative.

He said Ford believed these cars would also present a strong case to government and fleet buyers as alternatives that were fuel efficient and environmentally friendly.

Mr Winslow said that in 2007, of total Falcon sales, 15 per cent of sedans, 41 per cent of wagons and 37 per cent of utilities were E-Gas.

He said Ford had stepped up production of the LPG components about two years ago and was in a position to meet almost any demand for E-Gas in the future.

He also added that by 2010 Ford would have the Australian-built Focus with a diesel engine to compete with the Toyota Camry hybrid when it eventually became available.

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“The critical support and strong desire to introduce new environmentally friendly technology and promote increased innovation within the Australian automotive industry enabled Toyota Australia to develop a case for a locally built hybrid Camry.” the company said.

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide says the Government sponsorship of hybrids is a farce!

“In a globalised economy, it’s no longer economic to assemble cars in Australia. The Australian car assembly industry was only ever marginally profitable even in economic good times, and the good times are over.” he said

Mr Mathew-Wilson believes the big three Americans (Chrysler, Ford and GM) are in trouble.

“Toyota’s announcement that it will build a hybrid Camry in Australia with government assistance is essentially rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. I predict that both Ford and Holden will cease Australian assembly within the next five years. Toyota will stick around until Ford and Holden close down their plants, then Toyota will shift its local assembly operations to Thailand.”

The respected author expects Toyota to sell only a few thousand units in Australia while having limited export potential for the model given the high cost of assembly in Australia.

Will the Toyota hybrid Camry be successful?

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“We decided to build the Camry Hybrid in Australia because Australians are keenly aware of environmental issues including global warming, and we are confident that the Camry Hybrid will be well received. Toyota intends to make further efforts toward popularizing hybrid vehicles”, said TMC President Katsuaki Watanabe

The new hybrid variant will be the third model built at the Altona plant and Toyota Australia expects to produce 10,000 hybrid Camry vehicles each year for the domestic market. The hybrid Camry is not unique to Australia, with the vehicle already in production in Japan and the United States.

It would be interesting to see if Holden can beat Toyota to the market with the first locally produced full-hybrid vehicle. Toyota seems to think that it has secured production of Australia’s first local hybrid.

“We acknowledge that the Federal and Victorian governments have a strong desire to see new, environmentally friendly technologies introduced to Australia. Both governments continue to provide strong support to the Australian automotive industry and can share in this historic announcement which is positive for Toyota, local car manufacturing and the Australian community,” Toyota Australia President and CEO Mr Max Yasuda.

Toyota has also released ten hybrid facts:

1. Hybrid Camry and Prius have specially designed four-cylinder petrol engines working in tandem with an electric motor. The combination boosts performance, reduces fuel consumption and produces fewer emissions.
2. The petrol engine automatically switches off when the car is stationary (such as at traffic lights) or when coasting or travelling downhill.
3. Hybrid Camry and Prius recharge themselves while driving. You never have to plug them into a power point.
4. Energy that would normally be lost when braking or coasting is converted to electricity and stored in a sealed battery, for use when required.
5. Hybrid Camry and Prius can be driven for short distances on electric power only. This is particularly useful in stop-start traffic, for eliminating emissions in your garage and for quiet entry or exit through your neighbourhood.
6. In all other respects, hybrid Camry and Prius are fully specified normal cars capable of seating five adults comfortably. They drive like regular automatic cars, use regular unleaded fuel and have large luggage capacities.
7. Toyota has adopted numerous safeguards , including automatic disablement mechanisms to ensure safety in the event of an accident. Prius hybrids have been on Australian roads for seven years and Toyota is not aware of any personal injury related to hybrid or electrical systems.
8. The battery is designed to last the life of the vehicle. It is kept at an optimum charge level, which gives it an extended life.
9. Toyota is the world leader in hybrid vehicles with sales of more than 1.5 million. The one-millionth Prius was sold in April 2008. Total Australian sales of Prius are expected to reach 10,000 later this month (June 2008).
10. Toyota is committed to developing hybrid systems as a core technology. Globally, the goal is to reach one million hybrid sales per year during the 2010s. Toyota ’s worldwide goal is to approach zero impact on the environment in all our activities, including vehicles and production. While we can never achieve zero impact, we always strive to do better - and hybrid technology is an important part of that effort.

Toyota’s current goal is sell one million or more hybrid vehicles a year by early 2010s, which means more local production of hybrid cars is required.

Will Toyota beat Holden to the market with Australia’s first hybrid car? GM Holden recently announced hybrid and diesel Commodores are only two years away.

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The Labor government’s Green Car Innovation Fund was an election promise to help car manufacturers develop energy efficient and greenhouse gas reducing technology from 2011. But the government has now realised, why wait?

“On the green car fund, the half billion dollar fund, my understanding also is that that fund can also in part be brought forward, I want to see an Australian hybrid car, manufactured hybrid car, as soon as possible, for two reasons. One is for those Australian motorists that like buying Australian manufactured cars, to give them that option.

Second, in terms of the impact on fuel prices, I think it’s really important for people to have that as an option at home as well in terms of dealing with this horrible impact of rising oil prices that affects family motorists.” he told reporters in Kyoto.

The Prime Minister is currently on a week long tour of Japan and is expected to visit Toyota executives at the Big T’s international headquarters in Nagoya today. The most interesting news will be the official announcement for hybrid Camry production at the company’s Altona plant in Melbourne.  The Camry is already the best selling Australian made car.

Despite the meeting with Toyota, Mr Rudd says the fund will be accessible to all local car makers and not specific to any particular technology or brand. Meanwhile, the next-generation Camry is scheduled for sale by 2010.

Given that Toyota already has a massive head start in the hybrid game, would the money be better spent on Ford and Holden?

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A record 111,891 Camry sedans were produced last year at Toyota’s Altona plant in Melbourne’s west making it the only Australian built car to exceed annual production of 100,000 vehicles.

From this total, less than a quarter actually found their way into Australian households with over 85,500 being exported and sold in more than 20 countries.

Despite this, the total local sales of 26,300 vehicles still made the Camry the country’s best-selling mid-size car - more than doubling its nearest rival.

Now Toyota has added to the appeal of its four-cylinder Camry range with the new Ateva L special-edition model, which features more than $2000 of equipment for no extra cost.

This special-edition model will feature leather seats and door trim, 17-inch alloy wheels, a lip spoiler and badging whilst retaining the same $33,750 price tag as the standard Ateva.

Toyota has also made a running upgrade to the Camry Grande, adding 17-inch alloy wheels as standard with no change to the $39,990 price tag.

The Toyota Camry is the only four-cylinder car produced in Australia and has been our best selling mid-size car for the past 14 years.

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The end result is basically bigger wheels, leather seats and a sunroof with no power increase. A bit of a disappointment for a car with a TRD badge.

On another note Toyota and Microsoft seem to be having a bad partnership to lead the way…

Click on images to enlarge.

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