Toyota Motor Corp. is ramping up its push on gasoline-electric hybrids, launching a new model in Japan.

Looking a step beyond hybrids, the head of Honda Motor Co. said he was considering launching electric vehicles in the US, Europe and Japan, indicating a shift in the strategy of Japan's No.2 car maker for zero-emission cars.

Toyota, the world's largest automaker, said on it aims to sell 36,000 units a year of its new Sai hybrid sedan in Japan, taking another step toward its goal of selling one million hybrid vehicles annually worldwide soon after 2010.

The Sai sedan, which goes on sale in Japan in December with a base price of 3.38 million yen ($37,290), is the second hybrid-only model under the Toyota brand after the less expensive Prius, and is a repackaged version of the Lexus HS250h hybrid. Toyota is still miles ahead of competitors in the fast-growing hybrid field, which has enjoyed tailwinds especially in Japan thanks to generous subsidies and reduced taxes on cleaner cars.

Honda, whose Insight hybrid is trailing far behind the Prius, has been aiming to leapfrog the competition in the next generation of zero-emission technology by focusing on the development of hydrogen fuel-cell cars.

But faced with slow progress in setting up hydrogen fuelling stations, Honda has been forced to take a closer look at plug-in electric cars, which it has until recently dismissed as a short-range option that uses too many expensive batteries.

Toyota and Nissan Motor Co. have announced plans to offer plug-in electric vehicles globally by 2012, while General Motors' Chevrolet Volt is expected to hit showrooms next year.

"There is no change to my view that hydrogen fuel-cell cars will in the end be proven the best," Mr Ito said. (But) electric vehicles will also be a core option for cars in the future," he added.