World’s largest car maker, Toyota Motor is entering a joint venture with a local Chinese company to manufacture batteries for China’s growing electric-gasoline hybrid car market. Toyota spokesperson Takanori Yokoi said that Toyota is negotiating with Hunan Corun New Energy Co in the southern China province of Hunan in order to jointly manufacture the nickel-metal hydride batteries for the hybrid models that the Japanese auto major contemplates to sell in China from 2015.
Toyota had earlier said that the company was contemplating to design the key hybrid ingredients in China so as to make the China specific hybrid cars cheaper for the Chinese consumers. This has resulted from the drive that Toyota and other Chinese as well as global automakers have taken in order to strengthen the production and sales of innovative hybrid cars in the Chinese car market foreseeing the changes in China’s industry policy to increase the demand for new green cars that also includes the conventional hybrid vehicles.
Till now, Chinese government policies have been providing liberal subsidies for the all electric battery cars as well as heavily electrified plug-in hybrids, but offered only limited subsidies when it came to conventional hybrids. According to many industry experts, the Chinese government will soon start on emphasizing on the sales of conventional hybrids through the means of significantly increased subsidies.
Toyota’s Yokoi said that the company has been betting big on the gasoline-electric hybrid technology ever since late 1990s when the Japanese car major started selling the Prius hybrid. The company contemplates launching two relatively affordable hybrid cars in China in 2015. One of these models would be manufactured by Toyota’s joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. while the other model would be marketed by the joint venture of Toyota with another Chinese auto maker FAW Group.
Chinese audience is welcoming the gasoline-electric hybrid cars as they help in reducing the increased consumption of fossil fuels, and the local Chinese auto makers are ready to cater to this growing demand.
The Chinese state-owned automakers such as SAIC Motor Corp and Brilliance Auto are manufacturing the fuel preserving technology that is pioneered by the Japanese auto major, Toyota. The officials at BYD Co. a Chinese battery and auto manufacturing company told the media personals that in the coming years, it plans to sell only hybrid cars other new-energy vehicles replacing the sale of gasoline-fueled cars.
According to the reports, Toyota and the Hunan-based battery producer together plan to set up a joint hybrid battery company in the city of Changshu in eastern China.
This joint-venture company is expected to be known as the Corun PEVE Automotive Battery Co, and would be owned 41 percent by Primearth EV Energy Co, a Toyota and Panasonic joint venture, 5 percent by Toyota Motor China Investment Co and 4 percent by Toyota Tsusho Co. This joint venture is still seeking the approval of the Chinese government.
Thus, Toyota Motors is all set to make its mark in the hybrid car market in China.
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