Toyota releases “Live Hybrid” brand video, continues Malaysian-market teaser for Corolla Cross Hybrid

As indicated by a prior teaser of the “Live Hybrid” film premiere scheduled for today, October 14, Toyota distributor UMW Toyota Motor has released the brand video which you can watch below.

If you were expecting – as we have – a full unveiling of a new hybrid model for the local market, we’re afraid it appears that there’s still a little way to go before the petrol-electric crossover is launched here. A launch will take place within the next two weeks, says the company.

What we’re all but certain of is that the forthcoming hybrid model alluded to in these latest animated graphics is the Corolla Cross Hybrid, which should be one of several locally-assembled petrol-electric hybrids set for local market introduction. UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) announced a RM270 million investment towards expanding its current manufacturing operations and facilities in July.

In addition to the Corolla Cross Hybrid that has been teased so far, the other likely candidates to be part of the local distributor’s string of locally assembled hybrid models should include the Corolla and the Camry, the latter already on the European market in facelift form.

Toyota is looking to “step into a dual-powered world where fuel and [electricity] are synergised,” so the narration in the video goes, and which continues on to highlight the merits of hybrid electric power, namely reduced emissions, quietness through electric-mode running, performance and long range.

That latter point could be taken to imply that unlike purely battery-electric vehicles, there is no range anxiety with petrol-electric hybrids. Run out of charge from the vehicle’s drive battery, and its driver can simply carry on with the internal combustion engine.

The clip closes with saying that Toyota’s hybrid systems are “tomorrow’s technology made for today,” also possibly suggesting that petrol-electric hybrid vehicles aren’t at the mercy of currently available EV charging infrastructure.

Local distributor UMWT says it is aiming to not just launch a hybrid vehicle, but also to “shake up the hybrid-electric landscape in Malaysia,” and that it believes that hybrid electrification is the first possible step towards electrification in Malaysia; the most affordable and practical solution right now, it says.

On a broader, more global level for context, Toyota president Akio Toyoda said at a Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) press conference that carbon emissions, and not internal combustion engines, is the true enemy in the pursuit of carbon neutrality. Toyoda is also the chairman of JAMA.

This came after the Japanese manufacturer was accused by the green lobby of deliberately slowing the industry’s transition to fully electric vehicles. Prior to that, Toyota stated in a carbon neutrality press briefing that from its cumulative global sales of 18.1 million hybrids as of July 2021, its total CO2 reduction effect is equal to approximately 5.5 million battery-electric vehicles.

GALLERY: Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid teaser for Malaysia

GALLERY: Thai-market Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid

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