California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger met with Toyota Motor Corp. President Fujio Cho in Tokyo on Thursday in an apparent bid to persuade the Japanese carmaker to produce hybrid cars in his state.
The governor might have asked Toyota to produce the gas-electric car at its joint venture with General Motors Corp. in California, analysts said after the meeting. No other details were provided.
Toyota has reportedly been considering assembling the fuel-efficient hybrid at an existing U.S. plant due to solid sales there of the Prius. It is also apparently planning to use hybrid technology in the Camry, which is the best-selling Toyota vehicle in the United States.
Schwarzenegger arrived in Japan on Wednesday for a four-day visit to call for more Japanese investment and tourism in California.