DETROIT  Toyota plans to introduce two electric vehicles in the United States and six hybrid cars worldwide by the end of 2012, a company executive said Monday.

In addition, the executive, Takeshi Uchiyamada, said Toyota would start selling a plug-in version of its popular Prius hybrid car in the spring of 2012 and a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle in limited quantities by 2015.

Mr. Uchiyamada, an executive vice president who heads Toyota’s research and development activities and is considered to be the father of the original Prius, said he expected hybrids to remain widely used for many years because of the cost and limited range of purely electric vehicles.

“Based on the current battery tech, it is not feasible to have full electric vehicles to be the main way now,” he told reporters, through a translator, during a visit to Detroit. “There will be a period of time where plug-in hybrid vehicles will be used heavily. As battery technology gets better, there will be a transition to pure electric vehicles.”