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Toyota Hybrid PR Mess

by Darren

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Toyota has ran into a bit of snag concerning their hybrid vehicles. Jim Press is the Co-President of Chrysler. He once worked for Toyota. He has made two contradictory statements concerning his time there which have stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy.

n an interview published Thursday, March 24, Press told BusinessWeek that the Japanese government “paid for 100 percent of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius.”

On March 14, 2007–when he was still Toyota’s top U.S. executive–Press told something else to a subcommittee of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce committee. U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, questioned Press about the seven years of r&d that went into Toyota’s hybrid technology:

Burgess asked: “That seven-year interval, was any of that research and development funded by the government?

Press answered: “No, sir.”

Burgess responded: “So that was all just done under your own initiative.”

Press changed his story several times. Chrysler says it’s all a big misunderstanding and they didn’t mean any harm by the comments.