Toyota Motor Corp, the world’s biggest maker of hybrid vehicles, boosted first-quarter sales of dual-powered autos as a jump in overseas demand outweighed a drop in Japan, where government subsidies expired last year.
Deliveries rose to 332,100 units worldwide in the three months ended in March, compared with 329,000 units a year earlier, the company said today by e-mail.
Hybrids accounted for 14 percent of Toyota’s total vehicle sales last year and the company expects the category to help it maintain a lead in global car sales over General Motors Co and Volkswagen Led by the Prius, the world’s best-selling hybrid vehicle, deliveries of vehicles powered by electricity and gasoline reached 5 million units through March 31, the Toyota City, Japan-based carmaker said in a statement today.
“We expect hybrids to eventually become the majority in markets that are conscious about the environment,” Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota vice chairman, said today, without giving a timeframe. Uchiyamada was chief engineer for the first- generation Prius, introduced in 1997.
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