The introduction of the Toyota Crown hybrids in Japan indicates the company will position future "green" offerings as top-of-the-line models.

As a means of achieving its stated goal of 1 million hybrids sold annually by early in the next decade, Toyota will introduce a hybrid in each of its model lines.

The Crown Hybrid runs $21,600 more than its conventional gasoline counterpart, but is awash with high-tech features from a liquid crystal display screen to a system for night-vision pedestrian detection.

Using an infrared camera, the car takes short-range, high-contrast images of the dark road ahead with the negative-like images appearing on the vehicle's display screen.

Explaining that the company goal was to make the hybrid the top-tier offering in a series, the executive chief engineer of Toyota's product development group, Shigeki Terashi said, "We'll add some extra features onto the hybrid to establish it as the superior grade."

In addition, the company will transition to dual-use platforms capable of accommodating both a conventional and a hybrid powertrain. Currently only 4 of 11 platforms for passenger cars used by the company can make such a switch.

The general manager for hybrid vehicle engineering at Toyota, Shinichi Matsumoto said, "We are going to be introducing new hybrid models and expanding sales of current hybrids into new countries. Our production of hybrids is increasing very sharply, and this tendency will continue next year."