April 12, 2011 — Toyota recently announced the sale of its one-millionth Prius in the U.S. Worldwide sales topped 2 million in October.
“Since the Prius went on sale 11 years ago, not a year has gone by when it hasn't been the No. 1 selling hybrid vehicle in the U.S.,” said Bob Carter, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager, in a news release_notes about the milestone. “Prius has become synonymous with the word hybrid and as we see fuel prices starting to rise again, it has accounted for more than 60 percent of hybrid passenger car sales so far this year.”
Toyota touted the car’s accolades, including the third generation model’s top rank on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of most fuel-efficient vehicles in 2011. IntelliChoice has named the Prius the Best Overall Value of the Year for nine straight years and R.L. Polk found the car had the highest loyalty of any mid-size vehicle, Toyota boasted.
Since its introduction in 2000, Toyota claims the Prius has saved U.S. consumers 881 million gallons of gas, $2.19 billion in fuel costs and 12.4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions compared to the average car.
