Worldwide Sales of Toyota Hybrids Top Six Million Units

Toyota Motor Corporation announced that cumulative global sales of its hybrid vehicles topped the six million unit mark as of December 31, 2013, reaching 6.072 million units, including more than 90,000 from Canada. The latest million-unit milestone was achieved in the fastest time yet for Toyota, taking just nine months.

Helping mitigate the environmental effects of vehicles is a priority at Toyota. Based on its belief that environment-friendly vehicles can only truly have a positive impact if they are widely used, Toyota has endeavored to encourage the mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles. Continuing hybrid leadership in 2013, two out of every three hybrids sold in Canada were Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

Toyota sells 10 hybrid vehicles and a plug-in hybrid in Canada under the Toyota and Lexus brands. With 5 hybrid Lexus vehicles, Lexus has the largest luxury hybrid lineup in Canada. As of this month, Toyota sells 24 hybrid passenger car models and one plug-in hybrid model in approximately 80 countries and regions around the world. Furthermore, within the next two years, Toyota will launch a total of 15 new hybrid vehicles worldwide, including the new “Highlander Hybrid” in Canada early this year. Toyota will continue augmenting its product lineup even further and increasing the number of countries and regions where it sells hybrid vehicles.

Toyota calculates that as of December 31, 2013, Toyota hybrid vehicles have resulted in approximately 41 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. Toyota also estimates that its hybrid vehicles have saved approximately 15 billion litres of gasoline compared to the amount used by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size.

In August 1997 in Japan, Toyota launched the “Coaster Hybrid EV” and launched the “Prius”—the world’s first mass-produced hybrid passenger vehicle—in December of that year.  The Prius arrived in Canada in late 2000, and since then, Toyota hybrid vehicles have received tremendous support from consumers across the country and around the world.