Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has announced that cumulative global sales of its hybrid vehicles topped the 5 million unit mark as of March 31, 2013, reaching 5.125 million units. TMC’s promotion of hybrid vehicles and their mass market adoption is driven as a management priority and based on the company’s belief that environment-friendly vehicles can only truly have a positive impact if they are used widely.
Last year, hybrid vehicles accounted for 14 percent of TMC’s global vehicle sales and 40 percent of its vehicle sales in Japan. As of this month, TMC sells 19 hybrid passenger car models and one plug-in hybrid model in approximately 80 countries and regions around the world.
Between now and December 2015, TMC will launch a total of 18 new hybrid vehicles worldwide, even as the leading automaker is committed to augmenting its product lineup even further and increasing the number of countries and regions where it sells hybrid vehicles.
The manufacturer calculates that as of March 31, 2013, Toyota Motor Corporation hybrid vehicles have resulted in approximately 34 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions believed to be a cause of global warming than would have been emitted by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance.
TMC also estimates that its hybrid vehicles have saved approximately 12 million kilolitres of gasoline compared to the amount used by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size. It would be recalled that in 1997 in Japan, the company launched the Coaster Hybrid EV in August and launched the “Prius”-the world’s first mass-produced hybrid passenger vehicle in December. Since then, TMC hybrid vehicles have received tremendous support from consumers around the world.
Toyota developed the first-generation Prius with the aim of making it a car for the twenty-first century and as an indication of the automakers response to environmental issues. It had to develop a hybrid system from scratch, making its task extremely difficult. Nevertheless, company says, it took on the challenge.
TMC sources stated that the
launch had effects beyond expectations, with the vehicle increasing consumer environmental awareness and raising hybrid vehicle expectations. The understanding of consumers at launch time laid the foundation for the widespread adoption, and, since then, consumers have continued to support the hybrid vehicles.
Having positioned hybrid technologies that enable the use of different fuel combinations including component technologies necessary for development of various environment-friendly cars as core environmental technologies for the 21st century, TMC plans to continue working to further raise performance, reduce costs, and expand its product lineup including that of non-hybrid environment-friendly vehicles to create vehicles that are popular with consumers.
