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( Photo Credit: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press via NY Times )
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Today the super number-one best automaker from the land of the rising sun provided us the automotive industry equivalent of yelling "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" at their former President of Toyota USA, Jim Press. Press, now President of Chrysler, claimed last week in an article in Newsweek that 100% of development of the battery and hybrid engine for the automaker's happy little hybrid, the Prius, occurred via a fat injection of government dollars. This claim had been widely speculated at in the past, but much like the existence of the Yeti, "Nessie" and the affordable lightweight mid-size performance coupe, proof was in short supply. However, Press's comments to Newsweek last week were akin to pulling out the tail of a giant Icyosauropodasaurthing from the depths of a Scottish Loch. Now, Toyota's fightin' back. Here's what spokesman Paul Nolasco now claims: "I can say 100 percent that Toyota received absolutely no support — no money, no...
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BusinessWeek's David Kiley had a fun idea to spend some time talking with some industry heavy-hitters about CAFE and fuel economy. He spent a few minutes talking to both former Toyota USA President and current #2 at Chrysler, Jim Press, as well as GM Vice-Chairman "Maximum" Bob Lutz. The topic was the fuel efficient topic of choice among greenies, hybrids. In the article, Lutz claimed the upcoming Chevy Vaporware Volt might end up with a sticker price at around $48K. Normally that would make a pretty spectacular lead for us, especially given it's a price tag that's betwen 33% and 60% higher than originally stated by the brand all about the 'merican revolution and the GM exec born from jets. Fortunately for him, his comments were eclipsed by Press on the Prius. And why not, as Press noted the inherent unfairness of competition from Toyota in the hybrid game, saying "...the Japanese government paid for 100% of the development of the battery and hybrid system...
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Chrysler 's Jim Press says his company plans to offer an alternative-fuel powertrain option in every model it sells. Press told the Detroit News diesel , plug-in, fuel-cell and gas-electric hybrids could all be used to backfill Chrysler's lineup with environmentally friendly alternatives. The vice chairman of Chrysler says the company's commitment to green technologies comes from the top -- new owner Cerberus Capital Management, whose financial boffins probably have figured to the tenth of a cent what a greener image would sell for. Despite such lofty goals, Chrysler has a long way to go before it'll be known as a green automaker. Of the Big Six, Chrysler is the only company without a hybrid on the market right now. The Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango will be the company's first hybrids when they arrive in 2008, using a two-mode hybrid system mated to the 5.7-liter Hemi. And yes, as we told you first earlier this summer -- it's called the " HemiHybrid ." [ The Detroit News ]
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var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Former_Toyota_USA_President_never_owned_a_Toyota'; The Chrysler media blog's got an interview with the new Vice-Chairman of "The New Chrysler," Jim Press . Much of it's a nice little flufferview of the guy who until being snagged by Cerberus , spent thirty years at Toyota , eventually becoming President of Toyota USA and the only non-Japanese ToMoCo board member. Still, at the end of the interview was a little blurb that stood out as shockingly note-worthy: "Press has always loved cars. He built his first go-cart at age seven, got his first car when he was 12. At age 13, he started washing cars at his family's dealership in Kansas. But he said he never bought a Toyota or Lexus. The only vehicle he owns is a Yamaha motorcycle. But he'll soon be driving Chrysler vehicles." Are you kidding us -- the guy worked for Toyota for over 30 years and never once bought one of the vehicles he sold? We're stunned. Seriously, stunned. Full verbiage of the...
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Chrysler 's just announced that joining Bob Nardelli at "The New Chrysler" will be none other than Jim Press , who up until today was President and Chief Operating Officer of Toyota North America and the token 'merican on the Toyota board of directors...
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