LOS ANGELES (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. will unveil a concept hybrid pickup truck at the Detroit auto show next month, offering a peak at technology it may use to fight declining U.S. demand for large pickups.

The A-BAT, a four-passenger compact pickup, features lightweight carbon-fiber materials and solar panels, Toyota's U.S. sales unit in Torrance, California, said in an e-mailed statement. There are currently no plans to build and sell the truck, said Mike Michels, a company spokesman in Torrance.
Toyota, the world's largest maker of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, plans to show the truck after industry wide U.S. sales of large pickups fell 3 percent in the first 11 months of this year, as gasoline prices rose and a housing recession cut demand for trucks used by building contractors.
“Improving fuel efficiency is an urgent priority for any carmaker,” said Koji Endo, a senior analyst at Credit Suisse Group in Tokyo. Toyota may market a hybrid compact truck within the next two years and eventually a hybrid version of its full-size Tundra pickup, he added.
The rising cost of gasoline is boosting demand for hybrids including Toyota's Prius and small cars such as Honda Motor Co.'s Fit compact. The price of regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.82 a gallon at the pump in the U.S. during the first 11 months, compared with $2.57 a year earlier.
Toyota introduced the world's first mass-market hybrid car in 1997 and has sold more than 1 million hybrids worldwide. The Toyota City, Japan-based company has a goal of selling more than 1 million such vehicles annually by the early part of next decade.
President Katsuaki Watanabe reiterated on Dec. 25 Toyota's plan to eventually introduce hybrid technology in all its models.