Toyota to ask new government to extend green car aid

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Toyota to ask new government to extend green car aid

Posted Wednesday, Sep 2, 2009, 12:12 pm in Employee News

Toyota Motor Corp. will ask Japan’s new government to extend the deadline for subsidies on purchases of new environmentally friendly cars by two years from the original schedule of March 2010, a company executive said today, Reuters reported.

The Democratic Party of Japan has begun a transition to power after trouncing the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in an election on Sunday, and it is expected to form a new cabinet by the middle of this month, the news service said. The government subsidies on new environmentally friendly cars, launched in June to revive sagging car demand, have helped along with tax cuts to put a brake on slumping car sales in Japan, Reuters said.

The Toyota executive, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the carmaker also would ask the new government to keep tax cuts on purchases of environmental cars in place until the current deadline of March 2012. Toyota is concerned the Democratic Party may seek an early end to these temporary tax cuts and subsidies in lieu of scrapping additional taxes on gasoline, the story reported. (Reuters)