Irv’s Sheet: Setting the Record Straight on Hybrid Development

Sometimes when people say something unfortunate or flat-out wrong, they’re said to have misspoken.

And so today, misspeaking is our topic. The misspeak we’re interested in appeared in a story, in the March 24 edition of BusinessWeek.com, about the challenges domestic manufacturers face in meeting the current Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard. In that story, author David Kiley quoted former Toyota executive Jim Press as enunciating this surprising sentence: "The Japanese government paid for 100% of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius."

Author Kiley was commenting about the costs General Motors is facing as it develops its Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid. He quotes GM product czar Robert Lutz as saying that the Volt likely will miss its original target price of $30,000 and could sell for as much as $48,000 - or perhaps $40,000, if GM resigns itself to not making a profit on the vehicle. Then Mr. Kiley writes, "It hardly seems fair to Detroit to compare its efforts in the hybrid arena to Toyota's."

The implication here is that Toyota enjoyed some sort of unfair advantage because it allegedly benefited from governmental funding for development of a research/development-intensive technology.

The problem is that in making his statement, Mr. Press, who left Toyota last year to become Vice Chairman and President at Chrysler Corp., misspoke. I suspect that when he scrolls back through the pages of his memory, Jim will recognize that fact.

The truth is that the development of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system, and the batteries that go with it, was accomplished entirely by Toyota’s in-house R&D and its partner, Panasonic EV, without outside support.

And I’m not misspeaking when I say that.

-Irv Miller, Group Vice President, Corporate Communications

Comments

[Corrie Ann]

As a writer, I've learned the importance of getting the message correct and setting the record straight. What does Jim say about all of this? For years I heard Jim speak about the development of the Prius. I don't recall anything about Japanese government funding. While I cannot presume to know what Jim meant to say, it might be the case that the reporter confused the words "supported" and "paid for." Just a thought.

[Gustavo]

What is toyota waiting to release a hybrid minivan? I really need to buy a minivan, but I'm waiting for the first hybrid to come out to the market.... how long do I have to wait?

[Imants]

When will Toyota have an all electric plug in car like the Rav 4 again? I drive less than 60 miles a day, so range isn't an issue, I just want to go on the freeway, and I don't want to pay for gas. Thank you in advance for your response.

[AES]

Sorry, Irv, but the Japanese govt and Japanese corporations have always had closely knit relationships. For Jim Press to say that the Japanese govt provided significant funding to develop the technology underlying the Prius is NOT beyond the realms of credibility and incredulity.

IT'S NOT SURPRISING!

What IS surprising is that your bosses are somehow interpreting this as a negative attack. Why not embrace it? What are you afraid of? That the US government will take a cue from Japan and step in to help out the domestic automakers? Imposing trade sanctions on Toyota unless Aisin stops unfairly pinching the flow of hybrid components to Ford? Or finally require Toyota to stop bullying its workers out of unionizing so that labor costs balance out between automakers? (Either that or banning the UAW, same end result).

[Casey Rutledge]

I also am holding out on the minivan until you release the hybrid- when will it be available?