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Infrequent But Delicious - The Mike Blog
Infrequent But Delicious - The Mike Blog
Will you make your first car/next car a hybrid?
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I'm very serious about it myself, and I think any car company not investing heavily in environmentally responsible technology is being incredibly short-sighted. Look at the combination of these news bits:

In Fortune this week:

In an industry where others are sputtering, Toyota is a juggernaut. It is producing nearly 50 percent more cars than in 2001 and this year it will almost certainly pass General Motors to become the world's largest auto company.

Toyota (Research) alone earned more than all the rest of the world's 12 largest auto manufacturers combined -- $11.4 billion. And it is pioneering a new technology for the 21st century that will shrink gasoline consumption and limit greenhouse gases.

And this from Auto Spectator:

Billboard tracks gasoline saved by Toyota hybrids: 100,000,000+ gallons

Toyota estimates that drivers of Toyota and Lexus hybrids have saved more than 110,000,000 gallons of gasoline as of January 31, 2006. An electronic billboard counter alongside the 405 Freeway in El Segundo, California updates the running total every four seconds. Toyota and Lexus hybrid drivers have also avoided emitting an estimated 900,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and more than 3,000,000 pounds of smog-forming gases.

--------------------------------

You know, I'm pretty disappointed in Nissan... the car company I've supported to date. According to Fortune, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Japanese rival Nissan, likes to poke fun at Toyota's supposed social responsibility. "Some of our competitors say they are doing things for the benefit of humanity," he says. "Well, we are in a business, and the company has a mission of creating value."

Value for who? For what? Shareholders? How about value for humanity! In the future companies will increasingly be judged by the value they contribute back to the world, not only the value of their products to consumers.

Why not start now? Kudos to Toyota for their success, they deserve it for being amongst the first to take many big steps in the right direction. Now it's up to everyone else to catch up, or fall behind.

Who can disagree with this copy from Toyota's site - and I wouldn't usually quote advertising:

"Life is full of truths. That cleaner air is better for all of us. That more power from less gas is smarter. That looking after our planet is not just a choice, it's a necessity."

February 22, 2006 | 1:46 AM Comments  3 comments

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Comments

sarahs Sarah S.
February 27, 2006 | 10:36 PM

Thanks for posting this, it's pretty intersting and handy to know =D
ryann ryann
April 24, 2006 | 6:14 PM

There's a whole section on Toyota's site, re: Environment. And just this weekend, they gave away their Earth Day Scholarships.

My experience working with/for them the last month has definitely showed me that they're a much more progressive corporation than I thought.
matt85 Matt
May 28, 2006 | 12:13 AM

hmmmmm
i dunno, i remember watching the english tv show "top gear" they had a car run on seawater... super clean.. expensive, very expensive, but clean..
why not just put more R & D dollers into this? hybrids would then be old news :D
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