Car That Can Park Itself Put on Sale (in Japan) by Toyota

Yahoo! News - Reuters ^ | 9.1.03

[mhking]

TOKYO (Reuters) - A car that can park itself without the driver having to touch the steering wheel, said by maker Toyota Motor Corp. (news - web sites) to be a world first, went on sale in Japan on Monday.

Toyota's new hybrid gasoline-electric Prius sedan uses electrically operated power steering and sensors that help guide the car when reversing into parking spaces.

Toyota President Fujio Cho sat in the driver's seat at a demonstration laid on for the press, surprising reporters by holding his hands up as the car quickly parked itself.

"I forgot to put on the brake," Cho said. "But it's easy."

The new Prius five-seat passenger model is said by Toyota to be more fuel-efficient and cheaper than its predecessors. Rivals General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co will launch their first hybrids later this year.

Toyota said it expects to sell 76,000 new Prius worldwide in 2004, counting on growing demand for environment-friendly cars.

The sales target is more than double the annual figure for the Prius for the past two years of around 28,000 units. Toyota, the world's third-largest auto maker, has sold about 120,000 of the cars since its launch in December 1997.

"Development of eco-friendly cars is a key to our future growth strategy," Cho told reporters.

Toyota aims to sell 36,000 units at home, 35,000-36,000 in the United States and 4,000-5,000 in rest of the world next year, he said.

The new model sells for 2.15 million yen ($18,430) in Japan, against 2.18 million yen previously. The intelligent park assist system is offered as an option, at an additional cost of 230,000 yen which includes a DVD navigation system. Toyota has set itself a goal of producing 300,000 of the eco-friendly hybrid vehicles a year by 2005 or 2006.

[mhking]

Toyota Motor Corp. President Fujio Cho smiles next to Toyota's all-new 'Prius' gasoline-electric hybrid car during an unveiling in Tokyo, Sept. 1, 2003. The new Prius is equipped with the next-generation Toyota Hybrid System (THS II), developed around the concept of the Hybrid Synergy Drive that the company says represents a sophisticated fusion of ecology and power.

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[July 4th]

Toyota: Enabling poor-driving Asians to remain on the road.

[cyborg]

This will be good in all mall parking lots at christmastime. After witnessing fists fights and people trying to run people down in cars over spots, this is good.

[mhking]

After witnessing fists fights and people trying to run people down in cars over spots, this is good.

Damn. I kind of enjoy that sport!

[cyborg]

I knew that was you!!!

[per loin]

After witnessing fists fights and people trying to run people down in cars over spots, this is good.

Uh, how do two cars decide which of them gewts the parking spot?

[LizardQueen]

Just wait until the first time the sensors fail and the thing runs up over the curb, onto the sidewalk and mows down a pedestrian.

Call me a Luddite but I prefer to park my own car, thank you. And all these new gizmos are just more things to break. I'm not even crazy about power windows - would skip them if the dog wasn't so obsessed with having her window open all the time.

LQ

[mhking]

Uh, how do two cars decide which of them gewts the parking spot?

Ties go to the Urban Assault Vehicle...

[cyborg]

I think this will contribute to more suburban fatness

[Vigilantcitizen]

Now if the smart folks at Toyota can invent a car that drives itself, I'll be able to travel on Atlanta interstates again without my meds.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Ever been to Alameda, CA?

[Libertina]

ROTFLOL I lived in Asia and have to say that's pretty true... Their driver's ed schools are not so hot yet. In Taiwan, only 3 out of 29 were legal ;) The cars already have sensors which beep when they get too close to another car. It's actually a good thing because parallel parking over there is extremely tight.

[LibKill]

Whooptee-freakin'-do-da-dee!

But can it parallel park? Well?

[July 4th]

Hahaha...yeah, I have. And the rest of LA, San Francisco, and Madison, Wisconsin where all of the exchange students have absolutely no idea what they're doing, particularly when it snows.

[Sunshine55]

Toyota: Enabling poor-driving Asians to remain on the road.

That would be ALL of them, wouldn't it?

[per loin]

Ties go to the Urban Assault Vehicle...

Hmmm, I notice that one of the auto parts chains has starting selling shotguns ammunition.

[dalereed]

Noticed that also, the parts business must be getting bad.

The Target sunday paper add looks more like a hardware store than a parts house.

[ASOC]

Ok then
You, sir, are a Luddite!

Aaahhhh, would that be Orthrodox or Reformed? Luddite, that is.

Actually most folks I run across have never heard the term (Ah, the curse of a good education)

[1stFreedom]

An even better challenge: Can it make a 3 point turn and then parallel park once it hits the other sided.