Toyota Sells One-Millionth Prius Hybrid in the States

The Toyota Prius, a car that is often credited for bringing hybrid-electric technology to the masses, has managed to rack up its one-millionth sale in the USA. The announcement comes shortly after Toyota achieved two more milestones that started with global Prius sales topping the two million mark in October 2010 and overall global Toyota hybrid sales passing three million last month.

“Since the Prius went on sale eleven years ago not a year has gone by when it hasn’t been the number one selling hybrid vehicle in the U.S,” said Bob Carter, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager.

“Prius has become synonymous with the word hybrid and as we see fuel prices starting to rise again, it has accounted for more than 60 percent of hybrid passenger car sales so far this year. Prius paved the way for hybrids and while it is still the hybrid leader in sales and fuel economy, I’m proud to say that since its introduction, 13 other auto brands have seen the benefits of hybrid technology and joined the hybrid market,” Carter concluded.

The first generation of the Prius was introduced in 1997 first in Japan and later on in the U.S. and other countries. The second generation came to fruition in 2003 and remained in production until 2009 when Toyota revealed the current, third iteration of its popular hybrid model.

Toyota claims that since its launch in the U.S. in 2000, the Prius has “saved American consumers more than an estimated 881 million gallons of gas, $2.19 billion in fuel costs, and 12.4 million tons of CO2 emissions” when compared to the average car.

At the Detroit Auto Show in January, Toyota introduced a new member to the Prius family, the Prius v minivan that will go on sale in the third quarter of the year. The company also plans to launch two more models in early 2012, the Prius c compact hybrid vehicle and the Prius Plug-in Hybrid vehicle.

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Toyota Says Prius US Sales Will Outperform 2010 despite Earthquake Setback

In spite of the earthquake and Tsunami that devastated Japan last March and which deeply affected the country’s automobile production capabilities, Toyota remains confident that US sales of the Prius will outperform those of 2010.

The lack of inventory, with many dealers reporting as little as one day’s worth of Prius cars on their lots, led to a whopping 61% drop in July sales in the US, which is the lowest since 2004. And that’s significant because the US accounts for almost half of the all Prius models sold worldwide, which makes it Toyota’s most important market for its compact hybrid.

Moreover, even with these shortages, the Prius remains Toyota’s 3rd best-selling car, behind the Corolla and the Camry.

Before the earthquake, Toyota’s target for the Prius in 2011 was to exceed the 2007 record of 181,221 unit, but the disruption in production has made that impossible. However, according to Toyota’s senior vice president for US sales, the Prius can still exceed 2010’s 140,928 cars. And that’s because the production of both the Prius and the Lexus hybrids is coming back on line faster than initially predicted.

Moreover, the Prius family will soon expand to include three more models: the plug-in Prius, the Prius V estate and, later, the Prius C compact car. Toyota’s US president of sales, Jim Lentz, went as far as predicting that “by the end of this decade, the Prius nameplate will be the number one passenger car nameplate in the industry”.

Via Bloomberg

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Eric Leong’s Radical 2015 Toyota Prius Design Study

As part of last year’s Toyota Design Internship, industrial designer Eric Leong produced this interesting take on the fourth-generation Toyota Prius for the year 2015.

By acknowledging that wind resistance is one of the key factors in improving vehicle economy, Leong’s Prius III hybrid is extremely slippery. Described by the designer as moving, “through [the wind], not into it”, this design study channels air over its surface through a series of vanes.

And there are some nice little design touches as well such as the wraparound glasshouse, one-piece windscreen and roof and the transparent wing mirror arms / turn indicators.

There’s something about this design study; it reminds me of ItalDesign’s concepts of the 1980s and 1990s. You can check out our gallery of images below or leave a comment if you wish.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Eric Leong

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