The whole Toyota hybrid trend started out in 1997 in Japan, where TMC launched the “Coaster Hybrid EV” in August and the Prius, the world’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, in December. The hybrid arrived in North America, Europe and other significant markets in 2000. The second-generation Prius came into this world in 2003, while the third version arrived in May 2009. The 2 million units sold figure was achieved the same year in August .
In 2011, TMC is expanding its hybrid offering with the launch of the Lexus CT 200h, the first dedicated hybrid model in the premium-compact segment. The carmaking giant currently sells 16 hybrid vehicle models in approximately 80 countries and regions around the world, including three commercial vehicle models in Japan. A total of 10 new ones are earmarked for launch by the end of 2012, including six newly launched vehicles and 4 cars that have been redesigned.
The company estimates that its vehicles have led to approximately 18 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions, which would have come out of the tailpipes of regular gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size and performance.
“TMC intends to continue to dedicate itself—in all directions—to developing and popularizing other environment-considerate cars in addition to gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. Having positioned hybrid technologies—consisting of the component technologies necessary for development of various environment-considerate cars—as key technologies, TMC plans to continue working to further raise performance, reduce costs, and expand its product lineup to create vehicles that are popular with consumers,” stated the official press release.
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