2010 Toyota Camry

Toyota, the biggest seller and manufacturer of hybrid vehicles, said that it has cut the cost of producing fuel-cell vehicles by 90 percent since the mid-2000s. The Japanese automaker said that it may be able to price its first retail hydrogen model at about $50,000 and may have it on the roads by 2015.

Yoshihiko Masuda, Toyota”s managing director for advanced autos, said that the first hydrogen model from the automaker will be a sedan with equal driving range to that of a gasoline-powered vehicle.

“Our target is, we don”t lose money with introduction of the vehicle,” Masuda said. “Production cost should be covered within the price of the vehicle.”

Toyota, General Motors, Honda, Daimler and Hyundai have all said that they plan on bringing fuel-cell vehicles to customers by 2014.

Toyota said that it plans to sell the hydrogen sedan in the U.S. and other markets, but did not provide any details.

- By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)