Toyota has announced it has reached a milestone with its first hybrid production vehicle, the Toyota Prius, which has just hit the two million sales mark. The company has been focused on popularising and promoting hybrid technology, mainly through the Prius, for the past 12 years.
The Toyota Prius reached its first million sales mark in around ten years but it only took the company two and a half years to sell an addition million as the concept became more widespread, and consumers became more familiar and educated about the technology.
Most of the sales occurred in North America, where around 940,000 buyers took possession. Japan also made up a majority of the sales, adding 825,000 to the total figure. Just 206,000 Europeans bought the idea in this particular form though, the figure was probably restricted somewhat due to Europe’s large market focus on providing cheap economical cars.
In Australia, 16,200 consumers have bought a Toyota Prius since its launch here in 2001. David Buttner, Toyota Australia’s senior executive director sales and marketing, recently said about the achievement,
“Motorists are becoming increasingly aware that hybrid technology delivers performance as well as significant savings on the cost of fuel. That trend will gain pace as other manufacturers announce plans to introduce their own hybrid vehicles – a development Toyota welcomes.”
Toyota hopes to introduce hybrid technology into all its models by the 2020s.
