TOYOTA SPEEDS UP DEBUT OF CHEAPER HYBRID

In 2008 Toyota Motor Corp. will replace its current second-generation gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain with a new system that is more compact and about 50% less expensive, according to a Japanese media report cited by Reuters. That timetable is two years sooner than the one mentioned in September by Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe. Toyota tells Reuters “2008 is certainly a possibility” but declines to confirm that date as a target.