Toyota reports record sales of the Prius

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When Toyota launched its new generation Prius, the hybrid car, it had an expected sales target of 10,000. But Toyota far exceeded its own expectations because it had a whopping order book of 180,000 vehicles instead! It seems like the Japanese are scrambling for a piece of the action.

Prius has now become the top selling car in Japan, toppling the Insight, Honda’s hybrid vehicle and its nearest competitor. While the Insight is selling for $19,700, the new Prius is priced at $20,900, but it gives better mileage than Prius’s previous model.

The government in Japan is also offering incentives to buyers of new hybrids in the form of making them tax free. Similar to the US’s cash for clunkers scheme, in Japan a person trading in a model which is 13 years or older, gets a rebate of $2,500; without a trade he still gets $1,000 off.

Strangely enough the older model of Prius is also being sold and is doing very well. Hybrid car sales have picked up in Japan and elsewhere. In the US the car has still to arrive in larger numbers and so it sold only 700 pieces last month, though the older model still managed to notch up a figure of 10,091.

Overall, Japan’s auto sales figures have gone down, registering a 24 percent drop when compared to last year’s figures.