Toyota has posted an impressive global milestone with confirmation it has sold its 6-millionth hybrid vehicle, further entrenching the Japanese automaker as the world’;s favourite car brand.
Noteworthy is the pace at which Toyota’;s worldwide hybrid vehicle sales continue to accelerate – the latest million-unit-sales record was achieved in a staggering 9 months. As at the end of September the exact number reached was 7.053 million.
Globally, Prius accounts for almost half the overall total with 3.36 million sales – making it easily the world’;s best-selling hybrid vehicle. Toyota began selling the Prius in Japan in 1997. In South Africa this game-changing model made its debut in 2005 and since then the local hybrid range has grown to span 6 different models across both the Toyota and Lexus brands.
As Glenn Crompton, Vice President of Marketing for Toyota SA Motors, points out: “Toyota is the only local manufacturer to have a hybrid presence in just about every single segment. At the affordable end of the market there’;s Yaris and Auris; playing in the middle of the field is the stalwart Prius and the premium Lexus CT 200h; while at the other end of the spectrum you have the Lexus ES 300h, RX 450h and GS 450h.”
“It’;s not surprising that hybrid and related developments have been identified as core technologies for Toyota in the 21st century. And, the mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles has had tangible benefits – Toyota estimates that its hybrid programme has cut carbon-dioxide emissions by approximately 49 million tonnesand saved approximately 18 million kilolitres of fuel compared with vehicles of similar size and driving performance using petrol-only engines.
“Something else to consider is that hybrids save the most fuel during stop-and-go driving i.e. city driving and let’;s face it, this is where most of us spend our time on the road,” Crompton says.
Next year, Toyota will start selling its first mass-produced hydrogen fuel-cell hybrid vehicle in Japan, Europe and the United States.
Toyota Hybrid: Seven million and counting
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