Toyota Motor Corporation said on Wednesday (3 July) it had sold 3m of the Prius petrol-electric hybrid vehicle by the end of June.
The model, the world’s first mass-production hybrid passenger car, was launchied in Japan in 1997 with exports, mainly to the US, starting in 2000.
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The second generation followed in 2003, and the third, current generation in 2009. Toyota has since launched the smaller Aqua/Prius C and the seven-seat Prius V (Prius + in Europe).
From the first to third generation, TMC greatly reduced the cost of the hybrid system by two-thirds and reduced CO2 emissions from 114 g/km to 89 g/km (measured using the EU Combined Driving Cycle). The automaker applied for 1,261 patents relating to the third-generation model.
TMC has positioned its hybrid technology as a core technology required for the development of various types of environment-friendly vehicles and has placed emphasis on the development and production of core components such as motors, inverters, batteries, and electronic control units (ECUs), giving rise to substantial investment in Japan.
The automaker said it would “continue to conduct R&D and invest in facilities in Japan for the development of hybrid and other cutting-edge technologies and achieve sustainable growth by deploying these Japan-developed technologies across the globe”.
In this fiscal year ending 31 March 2014, TMC expects to spend JPY890bn on environmental technology development, as well as on strengthening new platform and major component development.
In the same period, the automaker also plans to make capital expenditure investments of JPY910bn (up 7% year on year) with JPY440bn spent in Japan alone (up 9%).
Investments in R&D infrastructure include a new facility (651 hectares) and the Powertrain Development and Production Engineering Building (a 12-story structure with a total floor area of 100,000 m²) in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, that will serve as a next-generation powertrain development base, plus an aerodynamics laboratory (capable of producing winds of 250 km/h) located in the Honsha Technical Center.
Future capital investments by consolidated subsidiaries include an investment by Primearth EV Energy (PEVE) for expanding battery production capacity at its Omori Plant in Kosai City, Shizuoka Prefecture.
TMC was reported recently to be considering making hybrid batteries in China, one of the few global markets where the Prius has not sold as well as hoped due to high prices as a result of taxes on imported parts.
