Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott discussed with automakers the possibility of selling gasoline-electric hybrid cars and plug-in automobiles at the retailer's stores.

``Maybe there isn't room for Wal-Mart in this right now,'' Scott said in a speech to store managers and suppliers in Kansas City, Missouri, yesterday. ``But something tells me that there may be some role for us in the future.'' Scott didn't identify the carmakers, other than to say they were ``major'' companies.

Scott, who has been at Wal-Mart's helm for eight years, has staked his reputation on an environmental agenda that he said might save millions of barrels of oil annually and cut consumers' energy costs. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer plans to work with suppliers to make products that are 25 percent more energy-efficient over the next three years.

``Wal-Mart has an opportunity to take a leading role in this environmental effort, especially within the retail sector,'' said David Abella, an analyst at Rochdale Investment Management in New York, with $2.5 billion in assets including Wal-Mart shares. He called the idea of selling hybrids at Wal- Marts ``a bit far-fetched.''

Scott laid out ideas for ways to supply energy to consumers, proposing wind turbines and solar panels to generate power so customers can charge electric cars in parking lots at the world's biggest retailer.

Supplier Targets

Wal-Mart, which continues to fight criticism from social groups and lawmakers that its stores and labor practices harm communities, said it's now requiring its suppliers to meet environmental and ethical standards. It offered to work with Chinese manufacturers to comply with laws there.

``We will favor -- and in some cases even pay more --for suppliers that meet our standards and share our commitment to quality and sustainability,'' Scott said.

Wal-Mart fell $1.25, or 2.5 percent, to $48.91 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares gained 2.9 percent last year, compared with a 12 percent decrease for Target Corp. and an 18 percent decline for the Standard & Poor's 500 Retailing Index.

The company has also said it will work to find ways to cut health costs for its workers and customers as it did with $4 generic drugs it introduced in 2006.

Employer Cooperation

This year, the retailer will contract with a group of other employers to manage payment and processing of their prescription drug programs, a move Scott estimated would save the companies $100 million this year.

It's also working with doctors to boost by fivefold the number of prescriptions its pharmacies fill electronically this year, to 8 million. That move will save money and cut medical errors, Scott said.

Wal-Mart will also try to convert its workers' health records to electronic form by 2010, Scott told managers.

In an October 2005 speech to managers, Scott pledged to make Wal-Mart an environmental leader by cutting waste and improving the efficiency of its truck fleet as much as threefold.

Scott failed to mention progress on 2005 goals, Wal-Mart Watch executive director David Nassar said in a statement.

``While demanding cheaper, greener products from its suppliers or less expensive record-keeping systems from the health-care industry are certainly admirable, Wal-Mart uses them as a distraction for the company's poor business practices,'' Nassar said. Wal-Mart Watch is a Washington-based group that has pressed the retailer to raise wages and benefits.

Green Goals

Since Scott's 2005 speech, Wal-Mart has introduced a program to work with its suppliers to cut packaging 5 percent by 2013 and has said it will start selling only concentrated laundry detergent to lower freight costs and save plastic. It met a goal to sell 100 million energy-efficient light bulbs during 2007 in October.

Wal-Mart has also made changes to its health plans, although critics including Wal-Mart Watch say it hasn't done enough to ensure affordable coverage for its workers.

It cut the eligibility wait time for its part-time workers and began offering coverage to their families. In September 2006, it introduced a program to offer a month's supply of more than 300 generic prescription drugs.

This year it has modified health-plan choices for employees and added discounts and credits for those enrolling, including an expanded $4 generic-drug menu of more than 2,000 prescriptions.

The changes helped shrink the number of uninsured Wal-Mart workers to 7.3 percent from 9.6 percent a year ago, the retailer said this week.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lauren Coleman-Lochner in New York at llochner@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 24, 2008 17:10 EST