December 11, 2001 -- Sacramento, CA -- Toyota released its first comprehensive
North America Environmental Report today, detailing the company's progress
and plans in the design, manufacture, sale and recycling of vehicles.
The report was released at Toyota's second environmental seminar, held
in conjunction with the Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas (EVAA)
Electric Transportation Industry Conference in Sacramento, California. At the
seminar, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Toyota Motor Corporation Senior Managing Director,
announced that the U.S. would receive a significant increase from Prius'
initial allotment to meet growing demand in the U.S. The increase will bring
the annual number of the world's first mass-produced gas-electric hybrid
vehicle available to 17,000.
"As a core philosophy, Toyota continuously strives to better tune its
automotive products to the needs of the earth," said Toshiaki "Tag"
Taguchi, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, Inc., who spoke at
the seminar. "The release of our environmental report and the Prius allotment
increase are the latest signs of our commitment to environmental responsibility
and continued progress towards sustainable development."
The seminar also featured Paul R. Portney, president of Resources for the Future,
a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank that conducts independent research on
environmental and natural resource issues. Mr. Portney also is chairman of the
National Academy of Sciences panel that advised the U.S. Congress on the success
of current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations. The panel made
suggestions on improvements for the program if Congress and/or the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) decides to rework the regulations.
Also at the seminar, Hiroyuki Watanabe gave an update on Toyota's global
efforts towards emissions reduction, California's ZEV program, developments
with hybrid powertrain and fuel cell hybrid technologies and advanced fuels.
The report reflects the company's holistic approach to environmental stewardship
and commitment to continuous improvement at every stage of the life cycle of
its products, from design to dismantling. Results to date and future goals are
highlighted in four sections:
Developing Cleaner Vehicles Today and Tomorrow
Making Manufacturing Cleaner and More Efficient
Greening Sales, Distribution and Service
Recycling End-of-Life Vehicles
Some of the key goals outlined in the report include:
Among full-line manufacturers, secure the top levels of fuel efficiency in
all vehicle classes and continue to exceed CAFE standards;
By 2005, reduce energy usage by 15 percent per unit of production from
the 2000 base year, which in turn decreases CO2 emissions by 15 percent per
unit of production;
Within two years, develop a database to track greenhouse gas emissions
associated with sales and distribution operations,
Implement material and design strategies that will increase the recyclability
of vehicles and meet a goal of a 95 percent vehicle recovery rate by 2015.
To review the full North America Environmental Report, please visit
http://www.toyota.com/environment
