Toyota Issues 2010 North America Environmental Report

NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota today released its tenth annual North America Environmental Report, highlighting the company's environmental progress over the last fiscal year, ending March 2010. The report is an update on progress toward the goals and targets set in the company's Environmental Action Plan.

"Toyota is fully committed to sustainability across our operations. In addition to developing technologically advanced, fuel-efficient vehicles, we consider the environmental, social and economic consequences of everything we do," said Dian Ogilvie, senior vice president and chief environmental officer at Toyota Motor North America. "We are proud of our performance over the past year and we will continue to look for ways to reduce our environmental impact and improve our operations, while supporting our dealers, suppliers and community partners in their efforts."

Among the highlights of the 2010 North America Environmental Report are:

Fuel-efficient vehicles

• Toyota continues to exceed U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and Canadian Car Company Average Fuel Consumption (CAFC) targets for cars and light-duty trucks.
• Both the U.S. EPA's Fuel Economy Guide and the Natural Resources Canada Fuel Consumption Guide list the Toyota Prius hybrid as the most fuel-efficient vehicle for sale in both countries.

Advanced vehicle technology

• Roll-out of the 2010 Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) demonstration program began, with more than 150 PHVs being placed in the U.S. and Canada to assess their performance under various conditions, in preparation for commercial launch in 2012.
• Improvements in Toyota's Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle (FCHV) technology has resulted in significant cost reductions and an estimated range of 431 miles on a single hydrogen fill. The three-year, 100 vehicle demo program will be one of the largest fuel-cell vehicle fleets in the U.S., with target market availability in 2015.
• In addition to developing its own small urban commuter Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), Toyota announced an agreement with Tesla Motors to develop a RAV4 EV with plans to market both vehicles in 2012.

Reduction in energy and material use

• Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., received a sixth consecutive ENERGY STAR® Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. EPA, for superior energy management. Collectively, our assembly plants achieved a 20% reduction in energy consumed per vehicle produced in North America last year, compared to levels in 2000.
• For the first time, Toyota's sales and distribution locations had a greater reduction in the amount of raw material used than the amount of material recycled, and our assembly plants achieved a 56% reduction in nonsaleable waste per vehicle from FY 2006 levels.
• Sales and distribution facilities reduced potable water usage by 25 million gallons last year through conservation and substituting recycled water for potable water. This increased recycled water usage to 85 million gallons.

Sustainable buildings and dealerships

• Three more Toyota buildings achieved LEED® certification last year, for a total of five LEED certified buildings.
• Eight Toyota and Lexus dealerships are now LEED certified. Kendall Toyota in Eugene, Oregon remains the first and only LEED Platinum-certified dealership in the world, and Stratford Toyota in Stratford, Ontario, is the first LEED Gold-certified dealership in Canada.

Further engagement with communities

• TogetherGreen™, our signature environmental philanthropic program with the National Audubon Society, awarded another 40 Innovation Grants (80 total since the start of the program) to support conservation projects across the country. To date, TogetherGreen volunteer days have resulted in more than 72,400 participants volunteering more than 275,000 hours of habitat, water, and energy conservation time.
• Last year's Meeting of the Minds summit and Sustainable Mobility Seminar engaged hundreds of experts from around the world to discuss practical urban innovations for the future, including new energy sources, new partnerships and new ways of doing business.

To read the full 2010 North America Environmental Report and learn more about what Toyota is doing to reduce our environmental footprint in North America, please visit our website at: http://www.toyota.com/environmentreport. We also encourage you to complete our online survey and tell us how we can continue to improve this report.

In a further effort to reduce our environmental impact, the report will only be available online.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE: TM) established operations in North America in 1957 and currently operates 14 manufacturing plants, including one under construction.  There are more than 1,800 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in North America which sold more than 2.05 million vehicles in 2009. Toyota directly employs more than 35,000 in North America and its investment here is currently valued at more than $23 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design. Toyota's annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and services from North American suppliers totals more than $25 billion.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com. You can also follow us on http://www.facebook.com/toyota and http://twitter.com/toyota.

SOURCE Toyota