After 3 Million Hybrids, Toyota Thinks They Are Starting To Enter The Mainstream
Toyota sold more than 3 million hybrids so far and thinks that they are slowly having an impact.
In August 1997, Toyota rolled out their “Coaster Hybrid EV” bus, followed by the Prius in December of the same year. 300 vehicles were sold in the first year. In 2010, Toyota sold 16 hybrid models in approximately 80 countries. Last year, Toyota moved 690,000 hybrids worldwide, 9 percent of Toyota’s worldwide output (ex Daihatsu and Hino). The 3 million mark was broken some time in February this year.
“Environment-considerate vehicles contribute only through their widespread use,” says Toyota in a press release, a subtle hint that a few green vehicles made for public consumption don’t make a difference. Only after selling 3 million hybrids, Toyota “believes that such vehicles are starting to enter the mainstream.”
TMC plans to introduce 10 new-model hybrid vehicles by the end of 2012, including six newly launched vehicles and 4 vehicles that have been redesigned.
After topping Japan’s best selling car list for 19 straight months, the Prius was unseated in January by Honda’s Fit. In February, the Prius took the top spot again, data by the Japan Automobile Dealer Association shows.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Why can't we have trickle down benefits of hybrids for our normal gas engine powered cars? Like start / stop systems with electrically run a/c or solar paneled roofs that vent hot air from the parked car. Just putting these systems in our standard cars that make up 99% of cars on the road will make a greater reduction in our dependence on oil and reduced carbon footprint. The big elephant in the room that is frequently ignored is the increased costs and emissions created in making a hybrid vehicle as production requires global transport of materials from various stages creating significantly more green house emissions to make a hybrid - which my opinion is that passing up a Prius to buy as slightly less expensive Corolla would be better off in both money saved and emissions created as a total.
One of the big reasons of Prius' success is how the last two generations simply were an excellent car. They would've still sold tons of them without the hybrid system. This does not invalidate the fact that they are rather mainstream now, but I'm just saying. Hybrid Escape was quite decent too, for what it did.
The interesting bit is that Honda starts talking "mainstream" when they sell 690,000 of them a year.
It's hard not to think that the Prius is a remarkable engineering success, particularly in light of the fact that the current technology was rolled out 14 years ago.