Jim Press says yes. Toyota says no.

He said, it said.

In a recent Business Week interview, Jim Press - the former Toyota executive that went to Chrysler in September - claimed that "the Japanese government paid for 100 percent of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius." Press, having worked at Toyota for 37 years, would probably know a thing or two about the hybrid car.

Toyota has responded to say that his statement is 100 percent false. In an Associated Press report, Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco was quoted as saying: "I can say 100 percent that Toyota received absolutely no support - no money, no grants - from the Japanese government for the development of the Prius."

So at this point, we don't know who's right, 100 percent or otherwise.

Source: AP