Toyota sells 1.52 MILLION electrified cars in 2017 – and the C-HR Hybrid is catching the Prius

Toyota has announced it sold 1,520,000 electrified cars – hybrid, plug-in hybrid and FECV – in 2017, three years ahead of their 2020 target for the 1.5 million milestone.

Alternatively Fuelled Vehicles (AFVs) seems like a very modern thing as car makers turn to electrification to deliver cars with lower CO2. But Toyota has been building AFVs for more than 20 years.

From the starting point of the Prius in 1997, Toyota now offers hybrid powertrains across all its range – including Lexus – and are starting to phase out the (reluctantly introduced) diesel-engined variants on many of its cars.

But although the Prius is still the single most popular hybrid Toyota on offer, the introduction of hybrid powertrains across its range has seen the Prius account for less than 15 per cent of hybrid sales (more if you include the plug-in Prius) with the new C-HR snapping at its heels and the Yaris and RAV4 hybrids doing good business too.

But the electrification of cars at Toyota continues apace despite their success, with plans for 30,000 annual sales of hydrogen FCEVs by 2020, and the introduction of a range of BEVs in the early 2020s to tap in to the pure electric car market with, it’s expected, solid state batteries.

Shigeki Terashi, Toyota Executive VP, said:

In just over 20 years, we have seen electrified new vehicle sales increase from under 500 sales to more than 1.5 million sales.

This is a testament from our customers to the quality, durability and reliability of our electrified powertrains, and, thanks to them, has led us to establish a solid and sustainable foundation for mass producing a more diverse portfolio of electrified vehicles across our range moving forward.