The statement came as analysts warned that Holden and Ford might not have sufficient funds to develop a green car here.
Toyota chief Max Yasuda said the company had got what it requested from the Federal Government's green car innovation plan. Without federal and state government support, "hybrid investment would not have come to Australia", he told a Committee for the Economic Development of Australia lunch in Melbourne.
"Instead, we would have imported the vehicles from Thailand or Japan."
ANZ senior industry economist Julie Toth said the dire state of America's car giants meant Holden and Ford Australia would not get the necessary funding from Michigan to develop a green car, even with a Federal Government subsidy on offer.
Industry analyst John Mellor said emerging Asian car companies would find Ford Australia or Holden a good buy.
Mr Mellor said Indian car maker Tata, which recently bought Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford, should consider buying all or part of Ford Australia.
He suggested China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, which has a majority stake in Rover, may consider buying Holden from GM.
The emerging Asian car companies would be in a good position to take advantage of Australia's green vehicle fund, he said.
So far, only Toyota, the world's No.1 car maker and Australian market leader, has taken advantage of the Federal Government's $6.2 billion, 13-year green car program.
Mr Yasuda said Australian research had a role to play in developing Toyota's hybrid vehicles.
While most research was done in Japan, "we can bring those advanced technologies into Australia and adjust them to local conditions".
He said LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) was abundant in Australia, so Australian research and development could contribute to the technologies being investigated for the hybrid cars - fuel cells, bioethanol and improved fuel efficiency of regular petrol engines.
Mr Yasuda said he hoped the Australian car industry could eventually stand alone. "Using this proper policy setting, we want to become independent from government, as in Japan," he said.
Mr Yasuda said unless global warming and energy issues were addressed, there would be no future for cars.
"Toyota has made a ... commitment to technological innovation for sustainable mobility - that is, a society that harmonises mobility, people and the planet," he said.
Mr Yasuda said that two years ago Toyota Australia put in place a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 13% by 2011. "By last year, we managed to achieve a 30% reduction," he said, with further cuts planned and new targets to be set.
Water consumption had been cut by 31%, waste per vehicle by 34%, and CO2 emissions in logistics were down 21%.
"We have developed a just-in-time process that allows us to receive the aluminium from our supplier in liquid form rather than a stockpile of ingots," Mr Yasuda said.
"This saves substantial energy as we don't need to reheat the aluminium for our casting process."
Even the paint robots now dispensed exactly the right amount of paint to each car. "This eliminates the need to flush paint lines with solvent every time we need to change colours," he said.
Mr Yasuda said Toyota was looking at a wide range of technologies - alternative fuel engines, diesel engines, petrol engines and electrical energy - as steps towards developing the ultimate eco-car.
By 2020 Toyota would have hybrid systems in all its factories. "The products will be there. It's up to consumers after that," he said.
