Toyota Motor, the world’s top automaker, plans to roll out a fuel-cell car by 2015 in its push to stay ahead in the global race for green autos, vice president Masatami Takimoto said yesterday.
His comments came at a shareholders’ meeting at Toyota headquarters in Aichi Prefecture in response to an investor’s question about the company’s outlook on zero-emissions technology, but he declined to elaborate.
Fuel-cell technology is considered a cutting-edge solution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions as it generates electricity by combining a fuel — usually hydrogen — with oxygen, and therefore only emits water.
Toyota began limited sales of a fuel-cell hybrid vehicle in 2002 in the US and Japan, using technology from its best-selling Prius hybrids.
But carmakers have generally concentrated on implementing the more affordable technology used for hybrids or battery-powered vehicles.
Fuel-cell systems remain costly because of the technology involved and the fact that it is difficult to store enough hydrogen in a vehicle to allow it to travel as far as a conventional car.
Toyota is banking on greener cars to help it out of its current slump.
It fell into the red for the first time in nearly 70 years last fiscal year when it logged an annual net loss of ¥436.9 billion (US$4.4 billion).
It expects an even worse performance in the current business year to March — a net loss of ¥550 billion and an operating loss of ¥850 billion.
Vehicle sales are expected to fall to 6.5 million.
The company plans to expand its line of fuel-sipping hybrids and cut costs as part of efforts to return to profit. Last month it launched its latest Prius, which was also the best-selling car in Japan that month.
Also at the shareholders’ meeting, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the group’s founder, officially replaced Katsuaki Watanabe as president.
More than 3,300 shareholders packing a hall at Toyota headquarters — a record attendance — showed their approval by applause for the selection of 29 new directors, mostly company executives and directors, including Toyoda.
Toyoda, 53, responded to the worries of a shareholder about the delay in Prius hybrid deliveries because production hasn’t kept up with booming demand, with deliveries not arriving until about November.
“We are very sorry to make customers wait,” he told shareholders, standing at the corner of the stage with other executives.
He assured shareholders everything was being done to boost production.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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