Toyota's hybrid car sales top 5 million units globally

Kamis, 18 April 2013 01:04

(TOKYO-Kyodo) Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday that its global sales of hybrid vehicles have surpassed 5 million units since the first model debuted in 1997, reflecting the increasing popularity of fuel-efficient and eco-friendly models.

Sales reached a total of around 5.13 million units as of the end of March, accounting for roughly 14 percent of Toyota's auto sales in the global market and 40 percent in Japan, the automaker said.

Toyota, which launched the Prius in 1997 as the world's first mass-produced hybrid car, plans to introduce a total of 18 new hybrid cars in the global market by December 2015. The automaker currently sells 19 hybrid passenger models and one plug-in hybrid car in roughly 80 countries.

Toyota Vice Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, who led the development of the Prius in the 1990s, told reporters in Tokyo that hybrid models will likely account for nearly half of Toyota's auto sales in the near future in developed countries where demand for green car lineups are high.

However, such models remain less popular compared with gasoline-powered vehicles in emerging countries because of higher prices, despite growing concerns about carbon dioxide emissions. Uchiyamada added incentives such as tax breaks or subsidies are needed to be offered by these countries so people there can afford to buy hybrids.

Toyota has sold a total of 2.93 million units of the Prius in the world and 409,500 units of the Aqua hybrid hatchback, which hit the market in 2011.