Toyota the world’s biggest seller of hybrid vehicles has sold Millions Hybrids Worldwide

Japanese giant Toyota, the world’s biggest seller of hybrid-electric vehicles has sold more than 6 million hybrid vehicles globally since it first launched a series-production hybrid in 1997. In August 1997, in Japan, Toyota launched the Coaster Hybrid EV, with the world’s first mass-produced hybrid passenger vehicle, but the company didn’t become synonymous with hybrids until a few months later, when the first generation of the Toyota  Prius went on sale in December, that same year.

View Westboro Toyota Prius inventory here.

According to Toyota, 6 million hybrid vehicles sold since 1997 have helped reduce CO2 emission by approximately million tons that than would have been emitted by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance.

Since then, Toyota has consistently developed its hybrid vehicle lineup and ambitious plans and goals. In 2013, this giant automaker, declared to surpass U.S. rules, intended to double fuel economy and reduce carbon emissions.

Also, automakers agreed in 2011 to a plan by President Barack Obama targeting an industrywide increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy, CAFE, to 54.5 miles per gallon of gasoline by 2025. Bob Carter, the automaker’s U.S. senior vice president, said that increased sales of hybrids and other alternative powered autos will help Toyota comply with that rule.

The 54.5 CAFE goal isn’t equivalent to window sticker-labels intended to show actual fuel economy for new cars and trucks. The window-sticker average for all autos sold in the U.S. last year rose 1 mpg to an all-time high of 24.8 mpg, based on data compiled by University of Michigan researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle. On a U.S. CAFE basis, the average was 30 mpg in 2013, also the best ever, said Sivak.

Toyota will release 15 new or revamped hybrids worldwide between August 2013 and 2015 and a fuel-cell sedan next year to lift efficiency, Carter said.

“With our wide-ranging lineups and lead in hybrid vehicles, we think we are in the pole position on CAFE,” he said.

“A lot of people think we can get there mostly with advanced ICEs, ”Robert Bienfeld, U.S.  senior manager of environmental and energy strategy for Tokyo-based Honda, said in an interview. “A lot depends on consumer response. Inexpensive gasoline is going to be challenging.”