With the plug-in Prius, which launches in Japan, North America and Europe in the coming months, Prius chief engineer Koji Toyoshima told Reuters in an interview that he would like to replicate the sales growth pattern of the conventional Prius. "We need to see that kind of volume with the plug-in during the upcoming 'step' phase, as we did with the second-generation conventional Prius, to achieve the momentum to get to the 'jump' phase," he said. Toyota stopped production of the first-generation plug-in last year, and has acknowledged that it sold poorly due to its limited range and relatively high price. Global plug-in hybrid sales accounted for 0.29% of total passenger car and SUV sales in 2015, according to data from LMC Automotive. Hitting the 1 million sales mark would take the automaker a step closer towards its goal of making all its new vehicles virtually free of carbon emissions by 2050.

Source: The Edge Markets September 15, 2016 10:07 UTC