Next-Gen Prius To Debut At Frankfurt
Sep 2, 2015 By Toyota Australia.
** Hybrid sales pass eight million **
Toyota has given an inviting glimpse of the next generation of its Prius hybrid, releasing the first official photograph ahead of the new car?s imminent global reveal.
The image heralds the next chapter for the world?s best-selling hybrid vehicle, which will have its motor-show debut in Frankfurt on September 15.
Frankfurt also marks the global debut of the second Toyota C-HR Concept hybrid crossover.
The fourth-generation Prius is expected to arrive in Toyota?s Australian showrooms in the first quarter of next year.
Confirmation of the new car?s impending debut comes hot on the heels of news that Toyota has sold more than eight million hybrid vehicles around the world, including more than 3.5 million achieved by its Prius flagship.
The most recent one-million sales, which includes Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles, took just 10 months.
The global tally is headed by Japan with 3.89 million cars, North America 2.79 million and Europe 930,000. Best-selling hybrid vehicles are Prius (3.5 million), Prius c (1.08 million), Prius v (582,400) and Camry (528,300).
Australian motorists have bought more than 77,500 of the company?s hybrid vehicles. Locally built Camry leads with 33,250 deliveries, followed by the Prius hatch with almost 20,000 sales. Toyota also sells the Prius c city car and the Prius v seven-seater on the local market.
Toyota estimates that owners of its hybrid vehicles around the world have saved 22 million kilolitres* of petrol ? enough to fill 8,800 Olympic swimming pools ? compared with the amount of fuel that would have been used by petrol vehicles of the same size.
For owners, the hip-pocket benefit amounts to $26.4 billion saved at the petrol bowser, based on an average pump price of $1.20 a litre.
The environment has also benefited with Toyota figures revealing its hybrid vehicles have saved about 58 million tons of CO[sub]2[/sub] emissions*, compared to the performance of the same number of equivalent, petrol-powered vehicles.
Hybrid remains Toyota?s core technology in its development of alternative powertrains. Recent developments include the release of Mirai ? the world?s first production hydrogen fuel-cell sedan ? in Japan, the US and Europe.
The company?s hybrid know-how has also been successfully applied to motor sport, with the Toyota TS040 Hybrid winning the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship.
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Toyota hybrid sales
<table>
<tr>
YEAR
CUMULATIVE
TOTAL
<tr>
1997
300
<tr>
1998
18,000
<tr>
1999
33,200
<tr>
2000
52,300
<tr>
2001
89,200
<tr>
2002
130,500
<tr>
2003
183,800
<tr>
2004
318,500
<tr>
2005
553,500
<tr>
2006
866,000
<tr>
2007
1,295,400
<tr>
2008
1,725,100
<tr>
2009
2,255,200
<tr>
2010
2,945,400
<tr>
2011
3,574,400
<tr>
2012
4,793,500
<tr>
2013
6,072,700
<tr>
2014
7,338,700
<tr>
2015
8,048,400
* TMC calculation: number of registered vehicles x distance travelled x fuel efficiency (in each market) x CO[sub]2[/sub] conversion factor