Toyota to Ford: Beat this, we've Sold Over One Million Hybrids in the U.S.

Just the other day, Ford pompously announced that it sold its 100,000th hybrid SUV. Today -and we seriously doubt that this is a coincidence - Toyota announced that the total combined Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicle sales in the U.S. have topped the one million mark since the first-generation Prius made its market debut in July 2000. Overall, cumulative worldwide sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrids have exceeded 1.7 million vehicles through January of this year.

"One million hybrids in less than nine years indicates how quickly American consumers have accepted this important technology," said Jim Lentz, TMS president. "Toyota's hybrid leadership will continue to expand in the U.S. and around the globe. With 10 new hybrid models between now and 2012 in various global markets, we plan to sell one million gas-electric hybrids per year, worldwide, sometime early in the next decade."

In 2009, the Japanese automaker will launch three new hybrid vehicles in the States: the third-generation Toyota Prius in spring, the second-generation 2010 Lexus RX 450h in the summer and finally, the 2010 Lexus HS 250h in late summer.