WITTMANN, Ariz. — At a remote 12,000-acre test track in the Sonoran desert here, the almost neurotically secretive Toyota Motor Co. recently had a coming-out party of sorts.
Amid the cactuses and desert blooms, the Japanese auto maker candidly revealed its lineup of alternative-fuel vehicles--an electric sport-utility vehicle, a natural-gas sedan and a low-emission hybrid-powertrain car. It even showed off fuel-cell technology and discussed future plans.
"Toyota decided to come out of the closet with a vengeance," declared vice president James Olson.
Traditionally close-mouthed about future products, especially where advanced technology is involved, Japanese auto makers are being forced into the spotlight by the fast-approaching California requirements that they begin selling pollution-free automobiles.
Although there's been much apprehension in Detroit, the exercise in openness so far suggests there are no blockbuster Japanese auto technologies just around the corner--no cars powered by water, no 100 miles-per-gallon sedans. The leading Japanese companies appear no further along in alternate-fuel vehicle development than the Big Three and other competitors. Indeed, in some areas the Japanese appear to be lagging.
The main barometer is Toyota, the largest and richest of the Japanese auto makers. Though it has sharply boosted spending on alternative-fuel vehicles, its approach is conservative and practical, emphasizing refinements of known technologies.
"Toyota has made good progress on improving the gas engine, but when you look at advanced technologies, the U.S. companies are probably stronger," said David Cole, executive director of the University of Michigan's Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation.
Toyota does, to be sure, see a future in alternative-fuel vehicles. But that future could be decades away. So while it is increasing alternative-fuel research and development, Toyota--like most of the world's auto makers--figures the internal combustion engine will remain the world's dominant auto propulsion system for the next 20 to 30 years.
In fact, the company is spending as much on perfecting the conventional engine as it is on developing electrics, gasoline-electric hybrids and fuel cells. It is pushing forward on "lean-burn" and other technologies that vastly improve the efficiency of current gasoline engines.
Still, Toyota vows to be a major player in the alternative-fuel field.
