05/29/07 Toyota's Kismet

The growth of Toyota has left US automakers in the dust. While GM and Ford kept rolling out the gas guzzlers, Toyota was quietly obtaining dozens of patents on hybrid technology and now&guess what, they hold the trump card. The company that was bent on producing that odd little boxy hybrid 10 years ago, the little car that couldn't, that ended up the but of jokes and typically in the bike lane on a hill, did and did it in a big way. 300,000 Prius's were sold this year and Toyota projects that they will break the million mark in Prius sales by 2010 . Apparently Toyota executives don't share many analysts concerns that hybrids could be but a mere blip on the highway of transitional technology having just released a luxury Lexus LS hybrid last week in Japan that retails for $124,000. Is it kismet that Japans largest automakers' gamble on hybrids was perfectly timed with the booming global warming movement ? If so, GM and Ford should be so lucky