Toyota set to roll out more eco-friendly cars in Gulf
dubai – Toyota Motor Corporation, a leading manufacturer of eco-friendly cars, said it is keen to join hands with governments in the region to promote a whole range of environment-friendly vehicles, including electric and fuel cell vehicles.
Takayuki Yoshitsugu, chief representative for Toyota Middle East & North Africa, said electric vehicles (EV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCV) have to be made available to a larger number of customers to reduce emissions. Towards this goal, Toyota, which is committed to encourage mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles across the globe, is considering the launch of a range of EVs in the region.
He said cumulative global sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid passenger cars crossed the nine-million mark in April 2016, underscoring the growing acceptance of the eco-friendly vehicles.
Toyota’s Prius family is the world’s top selling hybrid brand. Since the launch of Prius, sales of hybrid vehicle have steadily increased to hit nine-million units this year while helping to significantly cut carbon emissions and lesser gasoline usage.
Earlier this year, Toyota unveiled Prius car line-up in the UAE and other markets in the Middle East.
“We launched Prius 2016 model in February in Dubai and received very good market feedback,” said Yoshitsugu.
Since hybrid technology itself is quite new in the region, it will take time for Prius to grab a significant market share, Yoshitsugu said.
The 2016 model of Prius can deliver enhanced fuel efficiency of 26.1km a litre in the UAE. So it gives around 10 kilometres of additional mileage per litre compared to a conventional car. It is good savings on fuel cost and the car is also environment friendly, he said.
In the UAE, Toyota’s hybrid Camry is already widely deployed as taxis and the operating companies are happy with their performance so far, he said.
Toyota is considering more rollouts of EVs alongside Toyota’s FCV lineup, which are both zero emission vehicles.
— business@khaleejtimes.com