Toyota has just hit a major milestone, announcing that it has sold in excess of 15 million hybrids around the world.
The Japanese car manufacturer’s hybrid revolution started way back in 1997 with the launch of the original Prius. All these years later, Toyota remains the hybrid vehicle leader and its models continue to sell well.
It took Toyota from 1997 until 2013 to sell its first 5 million hybrids. It then crossed the 10 million mark in 2017 and just three years later, surpassed 15 million in the second quarter of this year.
Across all markets, Toyota and Lexus offer no less than 44 hybrid models. In the United States, these include the 6th-gen Prius in addition to hybrid variants of the Corolla, Camry, Avalon, RAV4, and Highlander as well as plug-in hybrid versions of the Prius and RAV4 also. Lexus sells hybrid derivatives of the ES, LS, UX, NX, RX, and LC.
The car manufacturer estimates its hybrid vehicles have saved more than 120 million tonnes of CO2 compared with equivalent petrol vehicles.
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Toyota says its huge range of hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles will also play a key role in allowing it to reach new European emissions regulations.
“It is thanks to our hybrid sales that Toyota is well on its way to meeting the 95g/km target set by the EU for 2020 and 2021 in Europe, where CO2 regulations are the toughest in the world. In addition, our full hybrids are also incredibly effective at running without emissions for the majority of the time in cities,” the company said.
