Toyota is set to launch a US built Camry hybrid with production of the vehicle set to start today at its Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Ky. The Camry’s 400,000 sales annually in the US alone make it the top selling car over here and this is pegged to improve with the introduction of the new hybrid version.

The company hopes that the technology will grow to become a standard feature in vehicles, and no longer an oddity for enviro-freaks. Installing a hybrid drivetrain in such a mainstream vehicle will surely improve its popularity. With recent news of an impeding oil price hike due to cuts in supply by OPEC, gas prices are expected to reach the peaks of $3-a-gallon that occurred last summer.

The Camry could take hybrids in a different direction, even though Toyota expects traditional, non-hybrids to continue to account for 90% of Camry sales. Entry price for the US built hybrid is $25,900, putting it $1,200 above the top trim level for a standard four-cylinder Camry but still $1,920 below the top trim level for the V6 model. Best of all, the vehicle gets an estimated 40 m.p.g. city/38 m.p.g. highway.