The Japanese carmaker has just announced that it hit an important milestone regarding the number of hybrid vehicles sold. If in Japan and the United States the numbers are already impressive, it looks like European customers also became very interested in hybrid cars: Toyota has delivered its 400,000th hybrid vehicle sold on the Old Continent.
The anniversary model was a Toyota Auris HSD with a white exterior finish that was built at the company’s assembly facility in the United Kingdom and which was delivered to a Belgian customer from Anderlecht, Belgium. The car went to Valentine Nkwocha, a man working for CTG, an IT consulting company that has added the special Auris to its fleet. The company is a loyal hybrid customer, already ordering 20 Toyota Auris HSD for its employees.
The first hybrid vehicle sold by the Japanese carmaker in Europe was the first generation Prius, which was available starting with 2000. Two other generations followed and in 2010 the Toyota Auris HSD was added to the hybrid lineup, being built at the Burnaston facility in the United Kingdom. Soon, the range will be extended with a new member, the small class Toyota Yaris hybrid which is scheduled to be built on another location, in France.
But these aren’t the only hybrid models Toyota is currently selling in Europe, because the carmaker’s luxury subsidiary, Lexus also has several interesting offerings, the Lexus GS and the Lexus RX being available with hybrid powertrains too.
Last year, 10 percent of all cars sold by Toyota on the European market were hybrids, while globally the carmaker sold 3.5 million hybrid vehicles ever since the technology’s pioneer, the Toyota Prius, debuted 15 years ago, back in 1997. According to company, all these hybrid cars sold contributed to a decrease in CO2 emissions of 23 million tons, which we have to say, is an impressive number.
And the Japanese carmaker doesn’t plan on stopping here, hybrid vehicles being an important part of the company’s future strategy. That why Toyota plans on launching another hybrid in Europe soon, the seven seat Toyota Prius+, which will extend the Prius range (the Prius is perhaps the car with the best image and Toyota wants to capitalize on that). The other Prius model, the Prius C (sold as Aqua in Japan), won’t be available in Europe, because it will compete against another Toyota model, the Auris HSD.