Toyota Improves Fuel Efficiency And Reduces Energy Consumption In 2002

Toyota Improves Fuel Efficiency And Reduces Energy Consumption In 2002

New York, NY, Dec. 11, 2002 -- Toyota improved fuel efficiency by 4 to 8 percent in nine vehicle configurations and reduced energy consumption per unit of production at its North American plants by 7 percent between 2001 and 2002, a new Toyota report reveals.

The Toyota North America Environmental Report 2002 was released today and details Toyota's progress toward meeting the growing transportation needs of society in ways that will decrease harm to the earth.

"We hope this report will give readers an understanding of the environmental activities that Toyota and all its employees are promoting across North America," said Toshiaki "Tag" Taguchi, president and CEO, Toyota Motor North America. "Although we know this is a job that never ends, we're proud of our performance to date."

Key highlights from each stage of Toyota's business include:

Design and Development: The company improved fuel efficiency by 4 to 8% in nine vehicle configurations, and the joint U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 2002 Model Year Fuel Economy Guide ranked four 2002 Toyota models as most fuel-efficient in their class.
Manufacturing: Toyota reduced energy consumption per unit of production by 7%, and its Indiana truck plant earned a "Governors Award for Environmental Excellence" in pollution prevention.
Sales/Use: An estimated 94% of Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold were EPA-certified as Low Emission Vehicles (LEV) or better, and more than one-third were Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV). In addition, the Toyota Prius gas/electric hybrid sedan was the best-selling hybrid vehicle in America.
End of Life/Recycling: For the first time, North American targets were set for continued management of Substances of Concern (SOCs), including arsenic, hexavalent chrome, cadmium, mercury, and lead.

"As a core philosophy, we continuously strive to better tune the automotive industry to the needs of the earth and get as close as possible to sustainable development," said Taguchi. "While we've made good progress during the past year, we realize there's much more to be done."

As part of its ongoing environmental program, Toyota plans to:

Achieve top levels of fuel efficiency in all vehicle classes.
Introduce to market additional new hybrid electric vehicles by 2005.
Deliver a total of six "Toyota FCHV" fuel-cell vehicles to University of California campuses as the first step in a plan to establish California fuel-cell "community" partnerships of government, business and higher education that will tackle product, infrastructure and consumer-acceptance challenges. Two of these vehicles were delivered December 2, 2002.
Reduce total energy use by 15% per unit of production at its North American plants, resulting in a 15% decrease in CO2 by 2006.
Reduce hazardous waste disposal to landfills by 95% by 2006.
Reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 30% by 2006.
Reduce total water use by 15% per unit of production by 2006.
Certify key suppliers to ISO 14001 by December 2003.

To review the full Toyota North America Environmental Report, please visit http://www.toyota.com/environment.

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