Nissan Motor Co aims to develop its own hybrid technology for small and midsize cars and will launch a vehicle using that system in Japan in 2011, the Nikkei business daily said.
Shares of Nissan, Japan's third-largest automaker, rose 2 percent to 566 yen after the report, outperforming a 0.4 percent gain in the benchmark Nikkei average.
Nissan's Serena minivan is likely to be the first model to be launched with the new hybrid system, the Nikkei said.
Nissan has said that it plans to begin selling a luxury car using its own hybrid system in 2010 but an expansion of its hybrid line-up would suggest a shift in strategy for the carmaker, which has focused its efforts on pure electric cars.
Japanese carmakers are under growing pressure to offer hybrid models as demand has increased for gasoline-electric vehicles, which receive tax breaks under a government initiative to promote cleaner cars.
Nissan spokeswoman Yuko Sasaki said that while the automaker is considering various options regarding the use of hybrid technology, it has not decided on anything beyond the launch of the luxury vehicle next year.
Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp are in talks over the possibility of Toyota supplying core components for hybrid vehicles to its smaller rival, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
