The Hybrid SUV Hit the Streets in 2005
2005 marked a “big year” for hybrid motor vehicles in the United States. And, it was a “big year” in a couple of ways.
First of all, in 2005, the number of consumers who actually will purchased hybrid vehicles of various types was expected to tick upward significantly. And, secondly, 2005 marks the year when three different models of the recently crafted and created hybrid SUV hit the marketplace in the United States.
The first model of hybrid SUV that was introduced onto the market in 2005 was the Escape hybrid from the Ford Motor Company. The Escape hybrid SUV was modeled precisely on the design lines of the conventional version of the vehicle. Of course, the engine works feature all of the elements that have been utilized within other types of hybrid motor vehicles over the course of the past several years.
The Toyota Motor Corporation will also joined the hybrid SUV fray in the United States in 2005. Toyota’s first entrée into the hybrid SUV market in the United States occured when the company introduced consumers to the Highlander hybrid SUV. Quite like what Ford has done with the Escape hybrid SUV, the Highlander follows the design lines established with the conventional version of the vehicle.
Toyota Motor Corporation will introduce a second hybrid SUV in 2005, a high end hybrid SUV. (Toyota manufactures the Lexus line of top dollar automobiles.) Carrying the Lexus moniker, the Lexus RX400 hybrid SUV will take to the road late in the summer or in the early fall of 2005.
The luxurious Lexus RX400 hybrid SUV will have all of the well appointed amenities that have made the conventional version of the Lexus SUV so very popular through the years. Toyota, through its Lexus division, plans an all out advertising campaign as a prelude to the introduction of the RX400 hybrid SUV onto the market.
The Lexus RX400 hybrid SUV will be the most expensive passenger hybrid vehicle on the market in North America. The entry level sticker price for the Lexus RX400 hybrid SUV will be in the neighborhood of $40,000. As with the conventional version of the RX400, there are a plentiful number of options that can increase the sticker price upward depending on a potential owner’s tastes and desires.
Get the facts before you invest in a hybrid vehicle!