The Toyota Prius
In December 1997, Toyota Motor Corporation launched its hybrid vehicle, Prius, in the Japanese market. This was one of the first mass-produced hybrid vehicles in the world. It used the Toyota Hybrid System (THS), which combined an internal combustion engine fueled by gasoline with an electric motor.
Prius achieved a balance between high mileage and low emissions and was the upshot of the
company’s initiative to produce environment-friendly automobiles and its goal of manufacturing the ‘Ultimate Eco Car’. The Prius generated a lot of enthusiasm in the industry as it was both efficient and stylish.It was also a safe car. The car conformed to Japanese regulations and standards pertaining to environmental pollution. Having sold more than 100,000 units worldwide by 2002, it was the best selling hybrid car model in the world.
The company introduced further refined models in 2000 and 2003. Toyota introduced Prius in the US market in 2000. Before entering, Toyota conducted a research study of the US market based on consumer preferences. It developed various strategies specifically for this market based on its research findings. The price of the new improved Prius was unchanged from that of the original Prius. These initiatives helped Prius to break successfully into the tough US market even though it was based on a new concept of a hybrid car. In 2001, the Automotive Engineering International recognized Prius as the ‘world’s best engineered passenger car.’
By 2002, it was being sold in North America, Japan, Europe, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. Analysts opined that the demand for hybrid cars would rise because of the unstable oil prices and the growing need for environmentally friendly products. Commenting on the future of green technologies and on Prius in particular, Chris Giller of Grist.org said, “In the marketplace, green technologies and industries are among the fastest growing and most innovative developments.
The Toyota Prius has defied every prediction to become the must-have car. The organic food business doubles every time you blink. Green architecture is taking off. Renewable energy, emissions trading, environmentally-conscious investing: many of the most exciting advances in environmental thinking are happening in the private sector.
History of Hybrid Cars
Ferdinand Porsche manufactured the first hybrid-electric car in 1898. In the 1960s a few attempts were made to manufacture hybrid cars by applying turbine engines to the production of the vehicles. A turbine-powered race car was introduced in 1967 with the turbine engines powering the wheels through a mechanical transmission. The need for cleaner and more efficient vehicles led to the development of hybrid vehicles in the 1970s. In 1970, a program called the Federal Clean Car Incentive (FCCI) was started by the US government. This program led to the development of a hybrid prototype in 1972.
The program was scrapped in 1976 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the US. In 1993, another program called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) was launched in the US. The partners in the program: Chrysler, Ford, GM, and a few governmental agencies, developed hybrid prototypes but never commercialized them.
Knowledge Management at Toyota
According to analysts, Toyota’s success in both the local and global markets was based on its gaining a competitive advantage through implementation of innovative and path-breaking ideas on its production floors. Toyota had focused on learning from the very beginning.
At Toyota, knowledge sharing was intertwined with its people-based enterprise culture, referred to as the Toyota Way. The five key principles that summed up the Toyota Way were: Challenge, Improvement, Go and See, Respect and Teamwork. These five keys plus Toyota’s dedication to producing high mileage, low emissions vehicles is what has launched Toyota to the forefront of Green Vehicle Manufacturing.