Toyota Presents its Innovative Green Strategy to Columbia Business School Students By Shari Cooperman, MBA '09 Mr. Steve Sturm, the group vice president of Americas strategic research and planning and corporate communications for Toyota Motor North America, came to Columbia Business School on Thursday, November 6 to discuss the global automobile company’s “Green Strategy.”  The event was organized by the student led Japanese Business Association and Green Business Club, with the support and cosponsorship of the Center on Japanese Economy and Business. Mr. Sturm began by informing the audience of the “Toyota Way,” the two principles under which all corporate decisions and actions are made at Toyota: first, “kaizan,” or continuous improvement, and second, respect for people.  Under these principles, Toyota has outlined three pillars of environmental responsibility for the company: to reduce its environmental footprint, to use natural energy resources conservatively since they are already scarce, and to generally be a good corporate citizen. The Toyota Prius is a physical manifestation of both the Toyota Way and the company’s notion of environmental responsibility.  The Prius, which means “to go forward” in Latin, was launched in 2000 and was an instant success, generating waiting lists of 6-12 months.  The Prius uses a combination of a gas engine and an electric motor, which makes it runs 90 cleaner than most other vehicles on the road.  Toyota estimates that widespread adoption of the Prius has saved 452 million gallons of gas and has kept 4.5 million tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere since its launch.  The company now has six Toyota and Lexis hybrid models, and is launching a new one at the Detroit auto show in January. In addition to hybrid cars, Mr. Sturm outlined a number of new technologies that Toyota is experimenting with right now.  One, a plug-in hybrid, can go 20-40 miles on battery power alone after being charged for just 4-5 hours (previous versions of these batteries required all-night charging).  Another, a hydrogen fuel cell, is powered by hydrogen and oxygen meeting in the engine and emits only water.  A third is a small electric car currently in development.  All components of all of these cars, including batteries, are fully recyclable and can go back to Toyota for proper disposal at the end of their life. Mr. Sturm also noted Toyota’s commitment to manufacturing sustainability throughout its supply chain.  The company produces zero landfill waste and composts all of its leftover food.  Further, in 2010, Toyota plans to open its first U.S. Prius manufacturing facility in Mississippi, which will use only renewable energy.   What many audience members found most impressive is that Toyota doesn’t keep its innovative technology to itself.  Instead, in the interest of reducing the absolute environmental footprint, Toyota licenses its Prius technology to five different car companies, including the Ford Escape, and intends to continue that practice. Moving forward, Mr. Sturm told the group that Toyota is working towards developing cars with zero emissions, and creating zero waste in everything they do.  The company is currently working with urban planners to identify opportunities to use its technology in other modes of transportation, such as hydrogen fuel cell public buses.  Mr. Sturm closed by stating that Toyota’s ultimate goal is to develop a vehicle that can drive coast to coast in the U.S. on just one tank of gas… … now that would really be something.