Toyota Prius 3rd bestselling car in 1Q
Visitors view the Toyota Prius PHV (plug-in hybrid vehicle), left, and the prototype of the new all-electric Toyota RAV4 at the sixth annual Alternative Transportation Expo and Conference (AltCar Expo) in Santa Monica, Calif. (Sept. 30, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius, a niche oddity when it went on sale 15 years ago, jumped to the world's third bestselling car line in the first quarter as U.S. demand and incentives in Japan turned the hybrid into a mainstream hit.
Prius sales more than doubled as Toyota extended the name to a four-model "family" of vehicles at the same time that rebates and tax breaks in Japan are saving buyers the equivalent of $2,500 or more. In the quarter, sales soared to 247,230, trailing only Toyota's Corolla, at 300,800, and Ford Motor Co.'s 277,000 Focus sales.
On Long Island, where SUVs dominate, the Prius remains firmly in the niche category. Nassau and Suffolk residents were driving 10,654 Priuses as of April 2011, according to data compiled for Newsday by the auto information provider R.L. Polk & Co. -- comprising less than 1 percent of the 2.6 million vehicles registered on the Island.
The global Prius surge, after two years of Toyota recalls and production disruptions, propelled the Japanese company back into the global sales lead for the first three months of the year. The hybrid line also gives the Toyota brand three of the top 10 models in the United States so far this year, including its midsize Camry.
"It proves Prius wasn't a fluke, that there's a long-term market for hybrids," said Eric Noble, president of the Car Lab, an automotive consultancy in Orange, Calif.
In the aftermath of last year's earthquake and tsunami that cut parts and auto production for Japanese carmakers, the government in December began encouraging purchases of fuel-efficient autos with rebates and tax measures.
The average price for a Prius in Japan is about 2.5 million yen, and it's around $25,000 in the United States, typically Toyota's top market for Prius. U.S. sales jumped 42 percent in the first quarter, and 56 percent through April to a record 86,027.
The Prius line topped other high-volume car models including Hyundai Motor Co.'s Elantra, Volkswagen AG's Golf, Ford's Fiesta, General Motor Co.'s Cruze and Honda Motor Co.'s Civic, according to the companies.
Toyota ranked as the world's largest automaker by sales from 2008 to 2010, before the natural disasters pared its global production and deliveries.
-- With Tom Incantalupo
