Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter

Potopsingh

Government's decision this week to reduce import duty for hybrid vehicles to 16.5 per cent should be grounds for rejoicing among environmentally concerned car buyers. Currently, import duty for vehicles begins at 65 per cent.

However, not until possibly 2009 will the Toyota Prius - the world's first and most popular mass-produced hybrid vehicle - be available in Jamaica, Toyota Jamaica Sales Manager John Allen told The Gleaner.

Hybrid vehicles combine a gasolene engine and battery power, thereby saving consumption and reducing pollution that would otherwise be emitted from the car exhaust.

"We will now try and study it (reduced duty) and try and understand what the dynamics are and what we will have to do," said Mr. Allen. "It's not just a tomorrow thing; we have to have the necessary tools in place, put in orders and carry out training."

The state-owned Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), which is preparing to introduce gasolene blended with ethanol into the local market, also has its own Prius, which is used for day-to-day running.

Hopeful about demand

PCJ Group Managing Director Ruth Potopsingh said she knew of only three hybrids in Jamaica but was hopeful that the reduction in duty would drive demand.

"I think it's an attraction for those people who have a strong interest in conserving energy and maximising their mileage," she said. "I think it will encourage those people to start importing them."

A decade after Toyota began production of hybrid vehicles total sales passed one million in May, while customers worldwide are having to join waiting lists. A third of all hybrid Toyotas are sold in Japan, creating a potential supply among the imported second-hand or 'deportee' market. Most vehicles in Jamaica are imported second-hand from Japan.

Expensive purchase

Although reducing gas consum-ption, hybrid vehicles have a higher purchase price, meaning that it will take several years before drivers yield a return on their investment.

In the United States, a Prius can be bought for over $22,000 and will qualify for various tax incentives, as they do in other markets.

Meanwhile, the Honda Civic, a familiar vehicle to Jamaican roads, costs over US$22,000 as a hybrid, compared to a gasolene-powered sedan equivalent, which costs upwards of US$15,000.

ross.sheil@gleanerjm.com