Toyota surpasses four million hybrid vehicles sold since 1997 debut

James Raia

The Toyota Prius dominates the hybrid car segment and it's the primary reason why 16 years after its debut, the carmaker recently surpassed four million hybrid units sold.

Toyota currently sells 18 hybrid passenger vehicles in 80 countries and regions.

This year, hybrid vehicle accounted for 15 percent of TMC’s global vehicle sales. Prius, Toyota’s first hybrid passenger car, went on sale in Japan in 1997. Hybrid technology was later introduced to the U.S. in 2000 with the arrival of the Prius.

Since then, the Toyota Division of Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A. sold 1.5 million hybrid vehicles in the U.S., accounting for 65 percent of all hybrid vehicles sold in the region. Prius, the iconic hybrid brand, comprises half of all hybrids on the road in the U.S. with sales totaling 1.2 million units through April 2012.

Toyota surpasses four million hybrid vehicles sold since 1997 debut 1

The expansion of the Prius lineup began when the Prius v was introduced last November followed by Prius c and Prius Plug-in during the first quarter 2012. In that time, the Prius family sold 60,859 units in the U.S.

In addition to the various models. Toyota’s U.S. hybrid models include versions of the Camry and Highlander, which feature larger displacement applications of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive.

Toyota calculates the total number of its hybrid vehicles sold globally since 1997 have produced approximately 26 million fewer tons of C02 emissions than would have been emitted by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance.

Article Last Updated: May 30, 2012.

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