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Toyota has compiled an entire fleet of hybrid and electric vehicles. In fact, Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) now offers 14 hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles for sale. Pretty amazing stuff here folks.
Remember when we were only discussing Prius? Seems like just a few years ago.
And sales are booming, too. In fact, Toyota hybrid sales doubled last year versus the previous year.
Yes, that is right. Over 337,000 hybrids were sold for TMNA for 2020. That is nearly 16 percent of total sales.
This makes me wonder if Toyota will reach their lofty long-term goal: hybrid and alternative fuel vehicle sales accounting for 25 percent of total sales by year 2025. Or if they will blow that projection away within just a couple years.
Toyota RAV4 Hybrid
The best seller for 2020 was RAV4 Hybrid. This really comes as no surprise, since RAV4 is now the top-selling SUV in the country for the 4th consecutive year.
But RAV4 Hybrid is driving these RAV4 sales. It is wildly popular and hard to find. With 40mpg combined and 219 net hybrid horsepower, plus a reasonable price tag, this makes perfect sense.
RELATED: Compare New 2021 RAV4 Hybrid trim level (XLE Premium) vs XLE
Top Toyota Hybrid Sellers
Toyota sold 115,974 RAV4 Hybrid vehicles last year. That is more than double any other Toyota model sold.
Second place was a surprise to me. I thought for sure it would be Prius, the best-selling hybrid of all time. I was wrong.
Highlander Hybrid sold 48,455 units to buyers looking for a solid commuter and family road trip vehicle with good gas mileage. It all makes sense to me now.
Fuel estimates for a Toyota Highlander Hybrid are either 35mpg or 36mpg combined, depending on whether families choose front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. Yes, you heard that right. You can choose either FWD or on-demand AWD. Plus, pricing is quite reasonable compared to their gasoline Highlander trims.
Toyota Prius was third place with 43,525 vehicles sold. Fourth place was Camry Hybrid at 33,826 hybrid sedans sold. Corolla Hybrid sold 17,628, which was good for fifth place on the list.
Outlook for Toyota Hybrid in 2021
Things should continue looking onward and upward for hybrid Toyota models this year.
Look for new 2021 models Sienna Hybrid, Venza Hybrid and Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell to make impacts for the entire year.
On a side note, I just bought a 2021 Venza Limited and I love it. I encourage anyone with a curiosity about one to test drive Toyota Venza at your local Toyota dealerships. You may just fall in love.
RELATED TOYOTA VIDEO: Check out this mpg on Highlander Hybrid test drive.
The vehicle that interests me the most these days, however, is the 2021 RAV4 Prime. This model only sold 3,200 units in 2020, but that is not due to lack of interest.
RAV4 Prime is not like other RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid models. This one here produces 302 horsepower, making it one of the fastest and most powerful Toyotas. It can reach 0-60 in just 5.7 seconds. Plus it has a solid electric driving range.
Budget-conscious drivers can simply plug-in Toyota RAV4 Prime and they can drive up to 42 miles on one single electric charge. No gasoline. Wow.
The challenge here is with production and distribution. This model is only currently being sold in most Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) states. This leaves people scrambling and searching across the country to find any available RAV4 Primes. There are simply not enough to go around right now.
Hopefully 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime will roll out everywhere soon. We hope at least.
Time for your thoughts on Toyota Hybrid
Do you have your eye on any specific Toyota hybrid models? Maybe you currently own one or more. If so, how do you like it and what has been your experience so far?
Thanks for reading everyone. See you next story.
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Comments
Toyota's approach of slowly
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Toyota's approach of slowly transitioning to EVs by increasing their hybrid and PHEV models has it's benefits of increased sales of all of those electrified vehicles. Which is great. This is really helped by the fact that the regular hybrid models only cost a little more than the gas-only models, but get notably better gas mileage. So it is very little risk to choose the hybrid model, and the payback in benefits and cost comes quickly.
It's not just the extra MPGs
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In reply to Toyota's approach of slowly by DeanMcManis (not verified)
It's not just the extra MPGs that is the attraction. As an owner of 2 Camry Hybrids (2012 & 2014) both of which I drove before passing onto my kids, and a RAV4 Hybrid (2017, before the growth in sales), there are other benefits.
Huge torque when starting from a red light (electric motors have high torque at 0 RPM), lighter brake usage (due to regenerative braking) - none of our hybrids have needed any brake maintenance yet, a highly reliable engine/transmission (Hybrid Synergy Drive) which has been refined over the years, quieter running when in neighborhoods and enclosed spaces (e.g. my RAV4 often automatically switches to electric-only mode in the last half mile of my commute either into an indoor parking lot at work or my neighbors streets, and finally my garage, at home). Plus with the emphasis on MPG in the dashboard, I and my family are more inclined to drive gently, and thus receive less speeding tickets!
Toyota is doing really great
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Toyota is doing really great with their hybrid cars. Bet they will do great when they turn more on EV's. My uncle doesn't like the fancy tech of the EV's but likes Toyota. He got this Tundra for 8 years and now a new Tacoma with a new set of tires from 4Wheelonline.
RAV4 and Highlander both
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RAV4 and Highlander both dropped in sales in 2020 but not as much as the double-digit decline of Toyota sedans. GM and Nissan saw more than that loss but in an increase of sub compact suv sales while Toyota's sub compact CH-R was a train wreck.
There are almost 200 RAV4 Prime models for sale currently. The $42-51K price tag is Lexus level!
Bought 2016 Prius in 2017.
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Bought 2016 Prius in 2017. Best money spent ever. Best commuter car (50 mile daily commute to work). Have my eyes on Rav4 hybrid or prime for CRV replacement.
I owned a 2010 Prius 8 years
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I owned a 2010 Prius 8 years & in 2018 traded it in for the Highlander. Would but the Rav4 Prime if available in Florida but non available but in ZEV states.