Toyota sells 15 million hybrids

Monday, 4 May 2020

Back in 2017 Toyota made a bold claim - the company had just passed the 10 million sales mark for hybrid vehicles globally and stated that it would increase that figure by a massive 50 per cent by 2020. And it just has.

Toyota has announced that it had achieved that ambitious goal earlier this year, ticking up more than 15 million hybrid sales worldwide since the Prius was first launched in 1997.

Toyota says its decision to develop hybrid electric vehicles started more than 25 years ago when Takeshi Uchiyamada led a team to develop 'a car for the 21st century, one which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants.'

The first-generation Prius was launched in 1997 around the time of the Kyoto Protocol signing, and today Toyota says its hybrid electric technology has reduced CO2 emissions by more than 120 million tonnes worldwide to date compared to sales of equivalent petrol vehicles.

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'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,' says Matt Harrison, Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Europe.

'In addition, our full hybrids are also incredibly effective at running without emissions for the majority of the time in cities.'

The company believes that hybrids are an essential part of the future overall mix of electrified vehicles and that two decades of electrification experience also feed into the company’s mutli-powertrain strategy that will see it continue to provide various types of electrified vehicles to reduce emissions based on regulations, market infrastructure and ultimately customer demand.

Toyota says it does not see a one 'winner takes all' scenario but a future where the different electrified technologies, including hybrids and plug-ins (PHEV), fuel cell (FCEV) and battery electric (BEV) vehicles, all play a part.

“Of course, we must work hard on improving battery performance and lowering costs (of BEVs), which we are doing,' says Shigeki Terashi, Chief Officer of Toyota Motor Corporation.

'But we must avoid having no plan until we overcome the hurdles related to both BEVs and FCEVs. In the meantime, we can contribute by continuing our work on hybrids.'