2008 Geneva Auto Show: Watanabe Crushes Hopes For Hybrid/Diesel
At the Geneva Motor Show we were shown amazing vehicles of all different sizes and all different kinds. There were even plenty of diesel hybrid concepts to see from several different top automakers that include BMW, Volkswagon, and Mercedes-Benz. We would be surprised if one or all of their cars didn’t make it to production within the next year or two.
With all of the automakers joining in the diesel hybrid band wagon we were surprised to see that Toyota would not be one of them. We heard it directly from the President at Toyota – Katsuaki Watanabe – who stated that they had absolutely no plans in the works for a diesel hybrid.
Watanabe stated that the diesel/hybrid market did not have enough of an improvement in the area of efficiency to warrant the amount it would take to make one. Another reason that they are avoiding that particular market was because there Hybrid Synergy Drive system was not yet ready to be used in the larger trucks.
That didn’t mean that they would be avoiding diesel completely. Watanabe did state that they would be offering a diesel engine for the Tundra and the Sequoia in 2010.