Toyota shelves A-BAT pickup concept

Toyota won't build the small, ultramodern A-BAT hybrid pickup concept that was a head-turner at the 2008 Detroit auto show and looked like a good bet for production.

"We have a lot of top priorities, and A-BAT is not one of them right now," Bob Carter, Toyota Division's general manager, told the Web site PickupTrucks.com. "It's on the shelf."

A Toyota official confirmed Carter's comments.

The A-BAT never got an official green light. But sources told Automotive News last fall that Toyota had requested bids from suppliers for both a four-cylinder and hybrid-powered version of the truck.

"I personally love the truck, its styling, the fact that it's a hybrid," Carter told PickupTrucks.com.

Pickup sales have been battered by declines in construction and housing. Sales of Toyota's two pickups have plummeted. The Tacoma was down 37.3 percent to 24,937 in the first quarter. The full-sized Tundra was off 55.0 percent to 18,349.

Carter told PickupTrucks.com that Toyota remains committed to the Tundra. "I'm absolutely positive the full-sized-truck market will recover," he said. "It may lag a little bit behind the general auto recovery because it follows the construction industry, but it will creep up."

By Kathy Jackson- Automotive News