Sales of Toyota’s hybrid vehicles have topped the eight million mark, according to the company, with one million sales occurring in the last ten months.

Since the launch of Prius in 1997, Toyota has continued to add hybrid models to its range, including the Yaris Hybrid and the RAV4 Hybrid. Toyota now sells 30 hybrid passenger models and one plug-in hybrid model in over 90 markets.

Toyota’s hybrids have come a long way since the launch of the Prius, when hybrids were experimental machines with an uncertain future. Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota chairman remembers how the first Prius prototype wouldn’t move for 49 days. “We had no idea what was wrong, so we worked late every night trying to figure it out. We finally got it to move around Christmas time, but it only went 500 metres!”

Toyota Prius

Toyota claims hybrids have saved approximately 22 million kilolitres of gasoline compared to traditional vehicles of the same size, and that hybrid vehicles have resulted in approximately 58 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions than would have been emitted by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance.

In Association with

Toyota has launched several new hybrid models in the past year, including the Lexus RC300h. On the way are a Corolla Hybrid and RAV4 Hybrid.

Prius remains the most popular brand for hybrid cars, although Hyundai and Kia are looking to gain a larger share of the green market. Toyota claims that by 2020, 50% of all Toyotas will be hybrid.