By Paul McVeigh

Toyota Europe today said cumulative European sales of its Prius hybrid car have topped 100,000 vehicles.

 

Since 2000, a total of 100,821 Prius models have been sold in Europe, with more than one third of this result achieved in the last 12 months, Toyota Europe said.

 

"This achievement is the result of customers' commitment to Toyota's environmental vision," Thierry Dombreval, Toyota Europe's executive vice president, said in a statement.

 

Toyota and its Lexus luxury brand sell four hybrid models in Europe.

 

Toyota aims to sell at least 1 million hybrid vehicles annually soon after 2010, including about 100,000 hybrid cars in Europe.

 

The Japanese carmaker said today that cumulative global sales of the Prius had topped 1 million units since its launch just over a decade ago.

 

The Prius, the world's first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid car, first went on sale in Japan in late 1997 and in other markets in 2000.

 

Toyota remains the leader in hybrid sales, with Honda a distant second with its Civic model.

 

Toyota said it had sold about 1,028,000 Prius cars as of the end of April.

 

"Toyota believes that Prius vehicles worldwide have contributed to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by producing approximately 4.5 million tons less CO2 when compared with gasoline-powered vehicles in the same class and of similar size and driving performance," it said in a statement.

 

Toyota remodeled the Prius with an improved hybrid system in 2003 and is widely expected to launch a third-generation version by next year.

 

By slashing production costs for the hybrid system, Toyota has said it would make the technology available across its line-up.

 

Last year, Toyota sold about 429,400 hybrid vehicles globally, up 37 percent from 2006. That accounted for less than 5 percent of its total vehicle sales.

 

Reuters contributed to this report

From: Automotive News Europe