Not Enough Priuses for the US Due to High Demand in Japan

Hybrids are indeed very popular nowadays as people are always searching for more fuel efficient means of transportation. But Toyota's Prius is surely more popular than even its parent company had expected, with the surprisingly high demand in Japan causing problems for the United States shipments. According to a report by Autonews, Toyota is now struggling to produce more Priuses in order to meet the demand in the domestic market but to also deliver them to United States buyers.

The Japanese manufacturer has already received around 80,000 orders before the official debut of the car and we're only talking about the domestic market. This means the company is close to achieve its annual local sales goal of 100,000 units per year, according to the aforementioned source, with global figures amounting to 300,000 to 400,000 units by January 1. Half of these figures should come from North America and 17 percent from Europe, President Akio Toyoda was quoted as saying.

"We have an initial allocation for the United States, according to the original annual plan. But because of the very strong demand from Japan, we may need to review this sales plan and reallocate the production plan," Yoshimasa Ishii, managing officer in charge of overseas marketing, told Automotive News.

But there might be a problem. Toyota currently produces the Prius in two Japanese plants, with the current capacity going as high as 40,000 units a month. However, the company has a backup plan and intends to add some overtime shifts to meet the growing demand. And just in case you're wondering, Japanese consumers who are placing an order for the Prius today must wait no less than four months until they finally receive their car...