Filed under: Hybrid, Toyota, Legislation and Policy, Japan, USA
Toyota vs. Jim Press - Did Toyota get government help for hybrids?
Click above for a high-resolution gallery of the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring.
"The Japanese government paid for 100% of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius, " according to Jim Press. This quote was taken from an interview conducted by Business Week which also included Chrysler LLC CEO Robert Nardelli and vice chairman Tom Lasorda.
"I can say 100 percent that Toyota received absolutely no support - no money, no grants - from the Japanese government for the development of the Prius," answers Toyota's Tokyo-based spokesman Paul Nolasco. Irv Miller echoes this sentiment on Toyota's blog.
Hmm... so Press, who worked for Toyota for 37 years, claims that Toyota received help from the government in Japan for the development of their hybrid drivetrain. Just what kind of help goes unmentioned. Toyota denies any assistance. Though Miller believes Press misspoke, Press has since added, "The Japanese government strongly supported R & D (research and development) investment in battery development, and the Prius and other Japanese models benefited from that investment." Sounds like he's not backing down from his claims, and Chrysler is doing a bit of damage control (see the company's statement after the jump).
We have no way of knowing which side is telling the truth, but we can surmise that Press would like to get some of the same treatment, if it did indeed take place, from the U.S. now that he's moved to Chrysler. Also, we wonder what the other Japanese manufacturers have to say on the subject, as they are also mentioned by Press in his later comments.
Related:
Chrysler Statement on Hybrid Battery Development
There have been several news reports today concerning statements made by Chrysler LLC Vice Chairman and President Jim Press on battery development for hybrid vehicles. First of all, Press was not speaking negatively of Toyota.
In a recent interview, he referenced the close cooperation between the Japanese government and Japanese industry. He said the Japanese government strongly supported R & D (research and development) investment in battery development, and the Prius and other Japanese models benefited from that investment in industry.
He cited this as an example of cooperation between government and industry working together on public policy issues. He went on to say that he would like to see similar cooperation in the United States in order to find technological improvements that help give U.S. companies a competitive advantage.
[Source: Business Week, Chrysler]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BlackbirdHighway 8:16PM (4/02/2008)
The man seems to be confused, it was US car makers that got R&D help from the US government. Look up PNGV. If Toyota got any help, it was only to level the playing field after the US companies got unfair assistance.
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CJ 8:27PM (4/02/2008)
I just don't seem to understand why it matters if they helped Toyota. The United States and Japan are not the same country.
It seems that Mr. Press is crying in an attempt to get the US to fund their hemorrhaging company. What about the Intrepid ESX series of cars the Chrysler developed? 80 mpg full-size sedan. They never brought it out, even though they brought the cost premium down to $7500. The premium would probably be lowed today.
Rather interesting.
http://www.allpar.com/model/intrepid-esx3.html
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Throwback 8:45PM (4/02/2008)
Would not surprise me if true. The Japanese government have played with the YEN for years to the advantage of their major exporters.
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brn 9:48PM (4/02/2008)
It matters because it creates an artificially low price for the Prius. This violates the spirit of US law (don't know if it's an actual violation though). Japan has similar, if not more strict, laws so they can't complain.
Similar methods were used to destroy the television industry in the US and replace it with the previously non-existent Japanese one. Japan is not new to unfair play.
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susan.kraemer 9:48PM (4/02/2008)
The Japanese government provided subsidies to condsumers who bought the Prius
http://www.evaap.org/japan.html
"In 1997, the government set a target for the diffusion of clean energy vehicles in 2010, in light of the targeted reduction of carbon dioxide emissions based on the Kyoto protocol at the third Conference of the Parties (COP3) of the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change. The target for clean energy vehicles was 3.44 million units in operation by 2010 including 200,000 electric vehicles, 1.8 million hybrid vehicles, and 1 million CNG vehicles. Further, the aim is for 210,000 units of advanced battery equipped vehicles, such as fuel cell vehicles, to be in operation by 2010. The target was revised in July 2001 at the board of investigation of natural resources and energy, reducing the number of electric vehicles and increasing the number of hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. Of fuel cell vehicles, the METI also set targets of about 50,000 units for 2010 and about 5,000,000 units for 2020."
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psarhjinian 11:26PM (4/02/2008)
"The Japanese government provided subsidies to condsumers who bought the Prius"
Most developed countries (the US included, if barely) offer some sort of incentive to buy hybrid/PZEV/ZEV vehicles. That's a user credit, not a development credit. It's also an environmental, and not specifically an economic, offer.
Press is giving the impression of direct R&D tax breaks, if not outright corporate handouts. That's not the case, not even for Japan's horizontally integrated economy.
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Throwback 8:39AM (4/03/2008)
Press worked at Toyota for 40 years. He would know, I believe him. The Japanese government has a history of helping their major companies by any means necessary. Whether it is restrictive import policies or currency manipulation they will do what it takes.
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Tormod Henne 9:38AM (4/03/2008)
Toyota does not have to pay health care for their workers. The government does...
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paulwesterberg 10:49AM (4/03/2008)
Most US corps get a large R&D tax write off.
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psarhjinian 12:15PM (4/03/2008)
"Toyota does not have to pay health care for their workers. The government does..."
It's not Toyota's fault that the US medical industry has completely snookered the government and people out of the benefits of public healthcare. I don't think that counts as financial assistance.
Besides, I though public healthcare meant higher taxes, which was why it's never been done in the US? Oh, wait, people and companies in the US actually _do_ pay more tax per capita for healthcare than Japan (and Germany, the UK, France, Canada, etc). And they pay insurance _on top of that_.
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Wulv 1:17PM (4/03/2008)
The only thing wrong with the Japanese Government giving money to Toyota for development in the US car makers eyes is the fact that they actually CAME OUT WITH A PRODUCT based on it. As BlackbirdHighway said, look up PNGV, actually here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PNGV . Funny how when the US Government does it, it floats under the radar, but when the Japanese do it, it is headlines, and conspiracy theories abound. If Toyota did take money from the Japanese Government, good on them, the produced a great product. If not, they STILL produced a great product that the US car makers are still scrambling to even keep up with let alone surpass.
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Kevin Nugent 9:12PM (4/03/2008)
Either way the pruis is what really sparked the hybird trend an dwill go down in history as one of the greatest innovations of this decade
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izntitgr8 4:26PM (4/04/2008)
Who cares if Japan helped Toyota. If only our government were so clear-headed.
As far as manipulating the Yen--no, the dollar is so ridiculously weak because we are flushing our economy down the toilet between paying for the war in Iraq, the mortgage and wider credit crisis, and many other policies and situations of our own making.
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