A group of six Japanese plan to drive a low-emission vehicle along almost the same course as the 2001 Paris-Dakar rally to promote public awareness of environmental issues, project supporters said.

The team will depart from Paris on New Year's Day -- together with participants in the Paris-Dakar rally -- in Toyota Motor Corp.'s low-emission Prius hybrid vehicle, which runs on electricity and gasoline.

The group is led by Kiichiro Yokota, 59, the first Japanese to compete in the 10,000-km international motor race more than 20 years ago.

After driving from France to Spain, they will cross the sea to reach Africa. They are expected to stop by Marrakesh in Morocco, where the next international conference on climate change is to be held in October, and visit the working site in Mauretania of a Japanese nongovernmental organization promoting preventive measures against desertification.

The group will also meet with locals before arriving at the goal, Dakar in Senegal, on Jan. 20, they said. The group, which has made similar tours to European nations and the United States, will also assess the energy-efficient hybrid car's performance in the severe desert conditions.

Yokota's group believes hybrid vehicles are more realistic for developing nations than electric vehicles, which require expensive infrastructure, such as battery recharging stations.

Their progress on the tour will be posted regularly on their Web site at www.team-acp.co.jp