Inside Toyota's Hybrid Truck

The automaker is introducing a concept compact hybrid pickup designed in America, for Americans

by Matt Vella

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The design brain trust of the world's most successful auto company is discreetly tucked away in a leafy suburb in Newport Beach, Calif. Toyota's (TM) Calty design and research facility sits inconspicuously at the end of a sleepy cul-de-sac. Surrounded by fountains and gardens, the studio radiates a monastic calm broken only by the sound of children playing in the yard of a nearby grade school.

Despite the Zen-like atmosphere, designers here have been brewing up creative disruption on four wheels for decades. Since it was established in 1973, Calty has served as the Japanese giant's crucial toe-hold in the American auto market. The studio has created some of the company's boldest and best-selling vehicles, including the 2005 Scion xB and the 2001 Highlander SUV. Now, Toyota's American designers are at it again.

On Jan. 13 the company will take the wraps off yet another vehicle that could have embattled American automakers scrambling to catch up. A new concept truck, dubbed A-BAT, will make its debut in the heart of the U.S. auto industry at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. And there's a twist: The tough-looking pickup packs a hybrid gas-electric power supply to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy.

The sleek vehicle is roughly the size of Toyota's smallest SUV, the RAV4, despite looking much larger thanks to an oversize front grill and rough-and-tumble body design intended to delight truck aficionados. But in a marriage of red- and blue-state values, the truck was conceived as a gas-electric model. The truck's cabin is shaped like a trapezoid, as is the company's flagship gas-electric, the Prius, with which it shares the Hybrid Synergy Drive system. "People gravitate towards sporty," says Matt Sperling, a designer with Calty. "If you inject utility into that, we think it's win-win."

Pickup Truck Wars

Earlier this year, Toyota overtook General Motors (GM) in global auto sales for the first time. And 2007 was a banner year for Toyota's truck division in the U.S., as it introduced a redesigned full-size pickup, the Tundra, intended to compete with the last reliable profit centers of American manufacturers. On top of rave press reviews, the vehicle earned the coveted Truck of the Year award from Motor Trend magazine in December, 2007.

According to Automotive News, Tundra sales for the first 11 months of 2007 were up nearly 37%, to 177,336 vehicles, over sales of the previous model in the same period in 2006. Sales of GM and Chrysler Group's competing trucks were flat. Ford (F) suffered double-digit declines, though it still sold some 635,000 units of its flagship F Series pickup.

The new A-BAT would potentially extend the ongoing dogfight into other segments of the U.S. truck market. The vehicle is a compact truck that would fit into the company's lineup below the Tundra and midsize Tacoma, which has grown in size over the years. The smaller A-BAT could prove popular with young buyers looking for a fuel-efficient but versatile vehicle. Erich Merkle, vice-president for forecasting at Grand Rapids (Mich.) automotive forecasting firm IRN, says: "Such a vehicle is a real genre-buster, and that could leave competitors behind if the concept becomes a production vehicle."

Risky Business

On the face of it, producing the A-BAT might seem counterintuitive. After all, the market for small trucks has languished in recent years. A dearth of products has been punctuated by lackluster, infrequently updated models. Merkle forecasts that U.S production of small and midsize trucks will continue to dive, dropping from current levels by some 28%, to 458,000 vehicles in 2009.