While US car manufacturers were sitting on their thumbs saying there's no demand for hybrid or electric vehicles Toyota just got busy making them. Yes, Honda made one too and for a long time Honda's Insight held the miles per gallon record for commercial hybrid vehicles. What Honda failed to realize that charging $20K or more for a two seater with the performance of a Reliant Robin, and storage capacity of a Porsche would naturally doom it to a niche market.
Toyota however decided that there was no reason a hybrid shouldn't be practical too and produced the much more popular four seater Prius which still managed to give a respectable 50+ mpg and better city mileage than the Insight. With their 2004 Prius they rolled out an improved power system for 60+ mpg, lower emissions and better performance. This was all combined with improved storage capacity and interior space, a fold down back seat and new less dorky design. So once again they managed to beat Honda at their own game and have made the new Honda Civic Hybrid a far less popular car than it would otherwise have been. Now it seems that everyone wants a Prius and Toyota simply cannot keep up with the demand. The car has up to a n eight month waiting time, and sells for significantly above sticker price (no Blue Book pricing on this car!) and used models with thousands of miles on the clock are selling for even more than new ones.
Now Toyata are pulling off yet another miracle in the hybrid car world and launching a "Sport" version of the Prius with a bigger engine, beefier electrics and hence significantly more horsepower but apparently almost identical performance in the fuel consumption department. While its no sports car (but their Volta is) it certainly will go a long way to induce even more demand for hybrids. I will predict that the Prius GT will have even long waiting times and be a runaway success in America and the world over, finally burying any remnants of the stodgy "no demand" reputation hybrids once had.
Now watch all those American car companies run to catch up...
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