Toyota Europe Q1 hybrid sales up 82.3% for 20% of total sales; Auris Hybrid the leader
13 April 2013
Toyota Motor Europe (TME) posted 2013 first quarter sales of 197,309 Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Europe. During that period, Toyota and Lexus full hybrid sales reached 38,673, up 82.3% from the same period last year. Full hybrid models now constitute around 20% of total Toyota and Lexus sales in the first quarter, doubling from the same period in 2012.
Highlights of hybrid results include:
Sales of the Auris Hybrid (earlier post) reached 12,736 units (33%) during the first quarter of 2013, an increase of 69.2% over 2012. In France, around three quarters of Toyota Auris registrations during the first three months were the full hybrid variant.
The Toyota Yaris Hybrid saw European sales totaling 11,459 units (29.6%) during the first quarter of 2013.
The Prius family posted 9,166 units (23.7%) in the first quarter. Of those, 4,039 were the classic Prius; 3,715 were the Prius+; and 1,412 were the Prius PHV. 9,166
Cumulative sales of Toyota and Lexus full hybrid models in Europe since 2000 reached 544,184 units at the end of March 2013, contributing to some 10% of Toyota’s global full hybrid sales.
The European automotive industry is still experiencing an increasingly shrinking market. Despite the challenging sales environment, our results are in-line with the market evolution. As we approach our global 5-million full hybrid sales milestone, the strong sales performance of our hybrid products in Europe is particularly encouraging.
—Daniele Schillaci, TME Senior Vice-President for Sales and Marketing
General Toyota Europe Q1 sales results include:
Toyota Motor Europe recorded an estimated 4.5% market share in Europe between January and March with sales of 188,053 Toyota and 9,256 Lexus vehicles.
The Toyota Auris saw sales increase by 41% to 32,625 units during the first quarter of 2013. The Toyota Auris is leading C-segment growth during the first two months of the year, registering a 48% increase while the segment fell by 10% in the 27-nation bloc European Union.
Toyota in France posted a 3.2% increase in passenger car registrations despite a 14.7% fall in the market overall.
In Turkey, Toyota sales increased by 6% in the first quarter.
Sales of the Toyota Hilux, for all variants, are up 29.8% with first quarter sales of 8,041 units. The Toyota Land Cruiser V8 also saw sales increase by some 29.6% to 4,458 units. Both models performed strongly across markets in Europe.
First quarter Lexus sales reached a record high of 3,700 units in Eastern Europe consisting of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Caucasus.
When other manufacturers catch up with Toyota's electrified car sales (20+%), naysayers will have to update their forecast.
Improved lower cost batteries could double Toyota's electrified car sales from 20% to 40% in about 3 years or by 2017/2018 or so.
Posted by: HarveyD | 13 April 2013 at 09:52 AM
"..hybrid sales up 82.3% for 20% of total .." doesn't really fit the Fox news 'EV dead/Mitt wins' world.
Posted by: kelly | 13 April 2013 at 03:13 PM
It pays off to be a a leader, but you'll have to have a long term focus. Toyota started development on hybrids about 2 decades ago, and are now reaping the benefits.
Here's hoping for RenaultNissan to stick to their guns. Maybe in 10-15 years time they will take over market leadership in green cars.
Posted by: Arne | 15 April 2013 at 11:30 PM
Anne....Renault-Nissan may not be the only group trying to catch up with Toyota. Toyota, very recently, announced that it will market up to 15 new electrified vehicles (models) between 2013 and late 2015. No doubt that Toyota will produce many more electrified models by 2015 and that the other major competitors will have to move faster if they want to catch up.
The fast growth in Toyota's electrified units sales (in Japan, EU, USA and many other places) may be due to the high quality of the products.
Posted by: HarveyD | 18 April 2013 at 01:55 PM