Toyota Hybrids: 4 million sold
May 21, 2012 By Toyota Australia.
Toyota's global sales of hybrid vehicles have passed the four-million mark, according to company figures released today.
The milestone, which includes Lexus hybrids, was achieved in late April with the latest million being sold in just 14 months.
Global demand for Toyota's hybrid vehicles is accelerating rapidly with more than 425,000 sold in the first four months of 2012 - more than two-thirds of last year's total.
So far this year, hybrid vehicles have accounted for 15 per cent of Toyota's global vehicles sales.
This puts Toyota on track to sell more than one million hybrid vehicles in a year for the first time in its history.
The announcement of the latest milestone closely follows the introduction of the
Prius v and
Prius c to Australia, along with launches of an upgraded
Prius and the second-generation
Camry Hybrid.
The total includes more than 2.6 million Prius and 270,000 Camry Hybrid, while the two newest hybrids - Prius v and Prius c - have already reached the combined total of approximately 250,000.
Toyota in Japan calculates that its worldwide sales of hybrid vehicles since 1997 have contributed greatly to the reduction of CO[sub]2[/sub] emissions which are considered to be a cause of global warning.
It says those vehicles have generated approximately 26 million fewer tons[sup]*[/sup] of CO[sub]2[/sub] than would have been produced by petrol-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance.
After releasing its first hybrid vehicles in Japan in 1997, Toyota took almost 10 years to post the first one million sales.
The second million was sold in two years and three months, and the third million in just 18 months. The third million milestone was reached in February last year.
[sup]*[/sup]Toyota Motor Corporation calculation based on the number of registered vehicles x distance travelled x fuel costs (actually fuel efficiency in each country) x C0[sup]2[/sup] conversion factor.