Toyota Sells Millionth Hybrid
Posted on | June 7, 2007
Gas-electric hybrid cars are slowly becoming more popular as the technology is improved and options have become more varied. Toyota is still far and away the industry’s sales leader, having fielded more than one million hybrids:
Sales of Toyota hybrids have climbed from just 18,000 in 1998 to 312,500 last year, the company said.
Demand for hybrids, which deliver superior mileage by switching between a gasoline engine and electric motor, has soared amid higher fuel prices and greater consumer concern about pollution and global warming…
The Prius is the overwhelming leader in the category, with a total of 757,600 units sold since its 1997 introduction in Japan. Toyota began selling the Prius in North America, Europe and other places in 2000. Last year, the model made up more than 40 percent of hybrid sales in the U.S.
The Prius, which gets 55 miles a gallon on combined city and highway driving conditions, has been enormously popular as a mid-size sedan, a best-selling vehicle category.
Although most automakers are working on hybrids, Toyota has the advantage of almost 10 years of experience in selling the technology, and in using feedback from drivers to make improvements, rather than relying on information from labs.
I resolved to buy a Prius a few years back, when I still thought they were butt-ugly. Now I find them beautiful in a weird way, as they resemble those little bubble cars ubiquitous in bad seventies sci-fi movies. I call it “the car of the future of the past.”
The Prius has been around for a decade now. I’ve been delighted with mine for over two years, and just had satellite radio installed in it this week to complete the geek experience. For anyone keeping score, I really do get 52-56 miles per gallon through relatively careful driving, though on a long (and speedy) highway cruise that figure dips into the upper forties.
The price of gas is just getting to the point where a hybrid owner can break even in a few years, despite the cost of the battery and electric motor. Those federal and state tax breaks make a more expensive car attractive.
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