The Search for a Hybrid Minivan

With about a week remaining in their petition to encourage Toyota to bring a hybrid minivan to North America, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has increased their original goal from 14,000 signatures to 20,000. They seem to be making good progress so far, and achieving the updated goal seems within reason.

That said, the ultimate proof will be if the petition influences Toyota's decision-making to introduce a hybrid minivan in North America. It's doubtful that an online petition could have that big of an impact -- after all, bringing any vehicle to market in North America takes millions of dollars and years of development and testing -- but hybrid-starved minivan users can still hope that it makes a difference.

What do you think? Will Toyota (or any manufacturer, for that matter) ever introduce a minivan in the North American market with a hybrid (or diesel!) powerplant? Click on the comments link below this post and let us know what you think, then check out some related Toyota Sienna content and resources via the links provided below.

Related:

• 2007 Toyota Sienna: Price Shopper [Cars.com]
• What's New for 2007: Toyota Minivans [preview]
• 2007 Toyota Sienna [photo gallery]
• UCS Toyota Hybrid Minivan Petition

^{photo: © Toyota Motor Sales USA}