An engine 1 is stopped according to conditions when a vehicle has stopped, and the engine 1 is started by starting a motor/generator 2 when a request to restart the engine 1 which has stopped, is determined. Engine torque is absorbed by the motor/generator 2 so that that the starting torque according to an accelerator pedal depression after restart, is effectively the same torque for starting from the engine stop state as for starting from the engine idle state. In this way, the same starting performance is obtained when the vehicle starts from the engine stop state as when the vehicle starts from the engine idle rotation state.