Toyota sells a million Prius hybrids in the US

Toyota Motors on Wednesday announced that it has sold a million units of its hybrid gas-electric vehicle, Prius, in the United States.

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.

By the end of October last year, the company recorded sales of two million Prius vehicles worldwide. Overall, hybrid vehicles of Toyota surpassed three million last month.

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,” said Carter.

The company statement said that the third-generation Prius topped the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of the most fuel efficient vehicles for 2011.

With more than 97 percent of Toyota Prius sold since 2000 still on the road, the hybrid vehicle has also been named as ‘the Best Overall Value of the Year’ by IntelliChoice for the last nine years.

In January 2011 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Toyota debuted the Prius v, which will go on sale in third quarter of 2011. Prius v is a mid-size vehicle that provides more than 50 percent additional interior cargo space than the current Prius.

Toyota also plans to launch two more Prius family members in early 2012 – the Prius c compact hybrid vehicle and the Prius Plug-in Hybrid vehicle.