Toyota hybrid vehicle sales worldwide surpass 2 million units as of Aug 2009

As of Aug 2009, Toyota's global cumulative sales of its hybrid vehicles have topped the 2-million mark. The first Toyota Prius was launched in Dec 1997, the 2nd-gen Prius in 2003 and Toyota's HSD [Hybrid Synergy Drive] system was expanded to MPV's and SUV's. On May 31, 2007, the global cumulative sales of Toyota's hybrid vehicles topped 1 million. This year, Toyota continues to expand its hybrid lineup, launching the Lexus RX450h in April, the 2010 Toyota Prius in May and the Lexus HS250h hybrid - the first dedicated Lexus hybrid model - in July.

As end-August 2009, Toyota calculates that its hybrid vehicle fleet, since 1997, have led to approximately 11 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions than an equivalent fleet of gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size and performance. Toyota currently sells 13 hybrid vehicle models in approximately 50 countries and regions worldwide. Toyota intends to introduce hybrid models in its entire lineup by the 2020's.

- 2 million hybrid vehicles is in itself a laudable milestone for Toyota. But if we were to say, conservatively estimate Toyota's global vehicle sales to be an average of 6 million units per year, in the past 12 years from 1997 to 2009 they might have sold about 72 million vehicles, of which hybrids at 2 million units would have made up about 2-3% of the total. Which sounds right about there - at least on an order-of-magnitude basis if nothing else. There is definitely room for improvement there, as Toyota and its compatriots including Honda, Mazda and Nissan race to revamp the world's vehicle fleet from conventional to hybrid and then to electric. Whether we have the time, money or physical resources to do so, is of course a separate issue for the peakoiler community to debate over.

(2009-09-20 11:10:25 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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