This latest milestone of 10 million units was achieved just nine months after total sales reached 9 million units at the end of April 2016.
Toyota launched its first hybrid vehicle 20 years ago, and the circumstances surrounding environmentally friendly vehicles have since changed dramatically.
Toyota now sells 34 different hybrid models in more than 90 countries and regions.
To recap, Toyota launched the Coaster Hybrid electric vehicle (EV) in August 1997 and the Prius — the world’s first mass-produced hybrid passenger vehicle — in December of the same year.
The Prius proved so popular that it became a byword for an “environmentally friendly vehicle.”
The Toyota Hybrid System (THS), which was used in the first generation Prius, evolved into THS II in 2003, and was thereafter rolled out in a wide range of Toyota vehicles.
“When we launched Prius, no one even knew what a hybrid was. Those who drove it were called geeks or other names. Today, thanks to those early adopters who gave Prius a chance, hybrids have grown in popularity, and have ridden a wave of success out of the unknown and into the mainstream,” said Takeshi Uchiyamada, chairman of the board of directors at Toyota and known as the father of the Prius.
As of January 31, 2017 Toyota estimates that the use of Toyota hybrid vehicles in lieu of conventional petrol-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance has resulted in 77 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions and has saved 29 million kilolitres of petrol.
Toyota also announced the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 in October 2015, setting challenges that it will undertake to help reduce the negative impacts of automobiles on the global environment to as close to zero as possible, and to contribute to the creation of a sustainable society.
