Toyota sells 10 million hybrids worldwide

Toyota reached the impressive milestone of 10 million hybrids sold on 31 January.

It says this demonstrates that the technology is becoming a mainstream choice for aiding in the reduction of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

‘When we launched Prius, no one even knew what a hybrid was,’ said Takeshi Uchiyamada, chairman of the board of directors at Toyota. ‘Those who drove it were called geeks or other names. Today, thanks to those early adopters who gave Prius a chance, hybrids have grown in popularity, and have ridden a wave of success out of the unknown and into the mainstream.’

Toyota estimates that the use of Toyota hybrid vehicles in place of petrol-powered vehicles of similar size and performance has resulted in approximately 77 million fewer tonnes of CO² entering the atmosphere and has saved around 29 million litres of petrol.

In the UK sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid models have surpassed a quarter of a million (254,414 total vehicles; 174,861 Toyota and 79,553 Lexus) since Prius was first sold here in 2000. Lexus was the first luxury brand to offer customers hybrid power via the RX 400h, introduced to Britain in 2005. Twelve years on hybrids make up almost 99% of all Lexus UK sales.