Toyota is reported to have surpassed the 2 million sales mark for its hybrid vehicles in Japan this year, while Nissan has sold 42,700 units of its all-electric LEAF.
Since Toyota launched its first hybrid vehicle in 1997, followed by the popular Prius, the carmaker has shifted 4.60 million units globally. Hybrids now account for around 40% of sales in Japan and 14% globally.
The Japanese carmaker now has minivans, SUVs, rear-wheel-drive sedans and compact hatchbacks in its hybrid line-up totalling 19 models and one plug-in hybrid. Over the next three years, Toyota plans to add another 20 new hybrid models to its lineup.
Earlier this autumn, Japanese rival Honda announced that it had passed the one million milestone for sales of its hybrid offerings, which include the Jazz Hybrid, the Insight and the newly launched CR-Z.
Meanwhile, Nissan is making slower progress with its all-electric LEAF, although major advertising campaigns are only just getting underway in new markets like the UK.
And finally, US carmaker GM is resting its hopes on its Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, of which the company says it is planning to build up to 500,000 models a year by 2017.
For further information:
www.toyota-global.com
www.nissan.com/
www.gm.com
Related stories:
China’s electric car sales look set to miss targets (25-Oct)
Sales of Honda’s hybrid vehicles top one million (15-Oct)
Toyota scales back all-electric plans to focus on hybrids (26-Sept)
UK government incentives for electric vehicles not working (21-Sept)
Article source: http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/i/5551/
