Toyota Hits Sales Milestones with Prius and Camry

            In recent weeks, Toyota has hit several sales milestones with two of their vehicles, the Camry and the Prius. In the Camry’s 30^th year of production, Toyota sold their 10 millionth Camry in the United States.  The first year the Camry was introduced to the United States was in 1983.  That year, they only sold 52,651 Camry’s in the US.  Since then, it has gone on to become the best-selling car in the United States for 11 years.

            Toyota says that there are still nearly 800 first generation Camry’s from 1983 still in operation today.  The first Camry production factory opened in Kentucky in 1988, which was Toyota’s first factory in North America.

            Toyota states that “virtually all Camrys sold in the US are produced in the US.” They also go on to say that nearly 75% of the car is domestically sourced within the United States.

            First introduced in 1997, the Toyota Prius hit the market as the world’s first mass produced hybrid car.  The 2^nd generation Prius hit auto markets in 2003 and the 3^rd generation followed in 2009.  In less than 20 years, Toyota has sold over 3,000,000 Prius’ worldwide.  With this kind of success, the Prius is starting to become what Coke is to soda as the car is to hybrid technology.

            How many more years will it take before Toyota sells another 10,000,000 Camry’s and 3,000,000 Priuses? It might take only half the time, especially with the constantly improving hybrid and electric 

technology, with Toyota at the forefront of it.

Matthew Colan

Handy Toyota

Toyota Prius Technology

            Many people know that the Toyota Prius has set the gold standard for hybrid technology all over the world.  The name is so common now that it is starting to become what Coke is to soda.  Not many people know just the amount of technology that goes into today’s Prius and what makes them as efficient as they are today.

           The secret to today’s Toyota Prius hybrid is the Hybrid Synergy Drive.  The system uses a blend of gasoline or electric motor to provide optimum efficiency for how the driver is using the car.  Sometimes it will use only the electric motor for something such as city driving during stop and go traffic.  Once you begin picking up speed the car will begin transferring use to the gasoline engine to provide extra power and give a longer range.

            The Prius also has three drive modes.  There is EV, ECO, and POWER.  The EV mode will run on battery power alone, but only for up to one mile.  ECO mode improves fuel economy by the car adjusting throttle and climate control for

getting optimum economy while still staying comfortable in the car.  The reason why climate control is adjusted is because if the air conditioner is in use, the compressor puts out drag, which reduces engine efficiency and performance, which reduces fuel economy.  The POWER driving mode has the car go all out and provide the best, most exciting driving experience the Prius can provide.

            Another great piece of technology in the Toyota Prius that not many other cars possess is the solar roof.  The solar roof provides power to a fan that circulates air throughout the interior of the car.  This cools the interior so when you go to get back in the car, you won’t need to turn the air conditioner on, which reduces engine drag and then increases your fuel economy.  You can also turn on the air conditioner within three minutes of you entering your Prius.  The compressor will run on the hybrid battery power system so you can enter into a nice and refreshing temperature.

            With industry leading technology such as the solar roof, and the forerunner of hybrid technology, the Prius will continue to be a leader of the pack for hybrid technology and fuel economy.

Matthew Colan

Handy Toyota

St. Albans, VT