A decade after the first Prius went on sale, Toyota’s global sales of hybrid vehicles have hit a landmark 1 million, underlining the Japanese automaker’s lead in “green” technology that has changed the face of the auto industry.
Toyota Motor Corp.’s cumulative sales of gas-and-electric-powered vehicles totaled 1.047 million as of the end of May. Of those, nearly 345,000 hybrids were sold in Japan, while 702,000 were sold abroad, the company said in a statement Thursday.
Sales of Toyota hybrids have climbed from just 18,000 in 1998 to 312,500 last year, the company said.
The Prius is the overwhelming leader in the hybrid category, with a total of 757,600 units sold since its 1997 introduction in Japan.
Toyota began selling the Prius in North America, Europe and other places in 2000. Last year, the model made up more than 40 percent of hybrid sales in the U.S.
Not all hybrids sell well. Earlier this week, Honda Motor Co. said it will discontinue the hybrid version of its Accord sedans, which sold poorly because it didn’t fit the customer demand profile of the smallest, least expensive hybrids with the highest gas mileage.
Hybrid SUVs have struggled in sales compared to the Prius, partly because an SUV doesn’t have a green image to start with, analysts say.
Sales of Toyota’s RX400h hybrid SUV, sold as the Harrier in Japan, have reached 85,000 worldwide since it was introduced in 2005.
The Prius, by contrast, has sold 478,800 units since the start of 2005.
FROM NEWS SERVICES
