Japan is a small island
nation with 4 major and several smaller islands. The population of the
country is small but hardworking and they have to survive on a piece of
inhabitable land much lesser than most of the 51 states of USA. Yet
they have always led the world of technology. Be it Sony corporation or
Toyota or Honda, they have always been at the forefront of
technological revolutions. While Sony was the first company to launch
portable music players in the form of walkmans, Honda was the first
company to launch a robot, Asimo, which was at least partially
intelligent and could do some practically useful tasks. And finally
Toyota was the first company to launch a commercially viable hybrid
car, Prius in the year 1997. Hybrid cars have been a big hit in Japan
primarily due to the fact that they are far more efficient than the
conventional fuel driven vehicles. The price of gasoline has been
increasing at an unprecedented rate in the island nation and this has
further increased the demand for these fuel efficient vehicles. Apart
from that even the Japanese government is taking strong measures to
give the economy and the car manufacturers a reason to cheer about in
the form of a $4billion stimulus package. The package aims to give
subsidies to car manufacturers and buyers, especially those buying and
selling hybrid or green energy vehicles.
With the launch of Honda's new hybrid car, Insight the fight for a
place in the Japanese hybrid auto space has only intensified. Honda
claims to have sold more than 10,000 Insight hybrids in April '09 and
is targeting a sales figure of 30,000 units of Insight hybrid for the
rest of the year. But Toyota, the leading manufacturer and seller of
hybrid cars in the
entire world is not keeping silent and is aiming to sell nearly 10,000
Prius every month in their local market. Remember, Prius has been a
great success in USA and has sold more than a million units since 1997.
Even the NYPD's traffic management wing uses the Prius hybrid.
The increased popularity of hybrid cars in Japan as well as the
governments of various country's efforts to push for cleaner energy
based vehicles is good news for all those who care for the environment
and the health of our planet. As the demand for hybrid vehicles
increases, the companies producing these vehicles will be able to
benefit from economies of scale which would ultimately help to lower
the cost of the cars and make them affordable and even more popular in
not just Japan but world over.

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