Prius Rules Japan for the 14th Consecutive Month

Regardless of the troubles through which Japanese manufacturer Toyota went through in the beginning of the year, the consumer's appetite for the world's most popular hybrid stays at high levels. In its home country, the Prius managed to remain in June, for the 14th consecutive month, the best selling vehicle in the country, with 31,876 new customers going for the hybrid. For the sake of comparison, runner-up Honda Fit only managed to move 15,955 units.

"Demand for the Prius remains very strong as consumers continue to opt for hybrid vehicles," Yukio Kogoshi, spokesman for the Japan Automobile Dealers Association was quoted as saying by The Canadian press.

The 43 percent increase in Prius sales registered in June pales however in comparison with the rapid rise recorded since the beginning of the year. In the first six months, Toyota sold 170,426 units of the hybrid, meaning a leap of some 230 percent compared to the same period last year.

Currently, Toyota has begun testing of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid in Europe and the US. The same as the current third-generation full hybrid Prius, the Plug-In is equipped with a lithium-ion battery that can be recharged from a standard 240V electricity supply.

So far, there are no plans to mass produce this version, but if Toyota finds the vehicle to be worthy, we might see the Prius badge at the top of the sales charts for the years to come.

The autoevolution test drive team took the 2010 Prius for a spin earlier this year, to see why it has this hypnotic effect on buyers. What they experienced can be read at the following link.