Toyota announces price for new fuel cell car

Tokyo: Japanese auto giant Toyota will start selling its first fuel cell sedan this financial year, with a price tag of around 7 million yen ($70,000), the company announced Wednesday.

The vehicles will be rolled out by March and beyond the home market during the summer of 2015, it said, in a move that will see the environmentally friendly cars available in the United States and Europe. "Hydrogen is a particularly promising alternative fuel since it can be produced using a wide variety of primary energy sources, including solar and wind power," the automaker said in a statement.

This is the first time Toyota has given a specific timeframe for its fuel cell cars, which it had previously said would go on the market in 2015. The price tag is also a nice surprise for potential customers -- it had been widely expected that a fuel cell vehicle would cost around 10 million yen.

The company said it will initially start selling the model only in the regions "where hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is being developed". The price ranges for the US and European markets have not been decided, Toyota said.