Toyota and its pressure on the US Senate over fuel standards ...

Excerpt from the International Herald Tribune:

Et tu, Toyota

4 October 2007

Toyota, which pioneered the 50-miles-per-gallon Prius hybrid, has joined with the Big Three U.S. auto-makers in lobbying against the tougher mileage standards in the Senate version of the draft energy bill.

Now why would Toyota, which has used the Prius to brand itself as the greenest car company, pull such a stunt?

Is it because Toyota wants to slow down innovation in Detroit on more energy efficient vehicles, which Toyota already dominates, while also keeping mileage room to build giant pickup trucks, like the Toyota Tundra, at the gas-guzzler end of the U.S. market?

"Toyota wants to keep its green halo and beat GM in the big trucks, too," said Dean Lovaas, vehicles expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"as the world's largest automaker and inventor of the best-selling hybrid car, Toyota has a responsibility to lead, follow or get out of the way as Congress debates the first substantial fuel-economy boost in decades. Shamefully, Toyota has joined forces with older automakers that are getting their lunch handed to them in the marketplace, in part because they've consistently shunned fuel efficiency."
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U.S. mileage standards for passenger car fleets have been frozen at 27.5 miles per gallon since 1985. Light trucks are even worse. The Senate energy bill calls for U.S. automakers to achieve a corporate average fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The Big Three and Toyota are lobbying to kill the Senate version and replace it with a loophole-laden increase to 32 to 35 miles per gallon by 2022.
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Don't be fooled, Japan and Europe already have much better mileage standards for their auto fleets than the U.S. They both have many vehicles that could meet the U.S. goal for 2020 today, and they are committed to increasing their fleet standards towards 40 miles per gallon and above in the coming decade. So Toyota, in effect, is lobbying to keep U.S. standards - in 2022 - well behind what Japan's will be.
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Interesting. A green face but a not so green agenda ...