Image Credit: Toyota Motor Corp.
Toyota Motor Corporation announced yesterday that they had sold more than 4 million hybrid cars around the world as of April 30, 2012, a major milestone for the auto manufacturer. In Japan in 1997, the companies’ first hybrid was launched in August called the “Coaster Hybrid EV” while the first-generation Prius began Japanese sales in December of that same year. The Prius came to American shores in 2000 and was followed by the second-generation Prius in 2003 and the third-generation in 2009. Toyota currently sells six Toyota and five Lexus hybrid vehicles on the U.S. market.
Toyota issued a press release to commemorate the sales mark, and stated that since 1997 hybrid technology has saved 26 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere. And while figuring out how much gasoline has been saved would be quite a feat, I am sure many would be interested to find out. Toyota, care to do the math?
During the 14 years between August 1997 and February 2011, Toyota sold 3 million hybrid vehicles. And in just the one year between February 2011 and April 2012, it sold an additional 1 million hybrids. And while hybrids only account for 15% of the brand’s global sales, selling 18 different hybrid models worldwide through its Toyota and Lexus nameplates at this quick a pace should probably see the company hit the 10 million vehicle mark in just a few more short years.
[via Autoblog]