Toyota Plug-In Car Sales Almost Tripled In Q3 2021

Toyota brand (excluding Lexus) reports 484,912 vehicle sales during the third quarter of this year in the U.S. (on par with the previous year), and a year-to-date result of 1,619,078 (up almost 28% year-over-year).

The Alternative Powered Vehicles (APVs) category notes a new record with 134,160 in the Q3 (up 69% year-over-year), which stands for almost 28% of the total volume. Year-to-date it is 407,283 (up 123%).

The plug-in hybrids – Toyota Prius Prime and Toyota RAV4 Prime – note strong results this year:

• Q3: 13,844 (up 179%) at 2.9% share
• YTD: 42,373 (up 253%) at 2.6% share
  

With such an increase, it’s clear that once Toyota will start to add more plug-in hybrid and all-electric models/versions to its lineup, it will become a big player in the plug-in segment.

Toyota Prius Prime

2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime

In the case of the new Toyota RAV4 Prime, the only way is up, as it appears that the manufacturer is production constrained.

In Q3, the company delivered a record number of 10,299 units, compared to 6,875 in the Q2.

• September: 3,100 (up 699%)
• Q3: 10,299 (up 946%)
• YTD: 19,966 (up 1,913%)

The plug-in hybrid RAV4 Prime already is at almost 20,000 YTD, while the conventional hybrid version noted 82,591 YTD. The total RAV4 volume is 313,447, so the PHEV still has plenty of room to expand.

The aging Toyota Prius Prime (the 2nd model evolution after the original Prius PHEV) noted 3,545 units in Q3, which is down year-over-year, but so far this year the volume has doubled compared to the challenging 2020.

• September: 875 (down 31.2%)
• Q3: 3,545 (down 11%)
• YTD: 22,407 (up 104%)

The Prius Prime is also very close to Prius Hybrid (conventional), which YTD noted 28,631 units.

The Toyota Mirai is not a plug-in model, but a hydrogen fuel cell car (technically it is nothing more than a series-hybrid with a zero-emission on-board power source).

Its sales significantly increased this year compared to 2020, but remain relatively low.

• September: 406 (up 890%)
• Q3: 671 (up 408%)
• YTD: 2,268 (up 565%)