Toyota Employs the Help of R2-D2 and C-3PO to Promote Prius Plug-in Hybrid

The Force continues to be strong with two of the most memorable robots to ever grace the silver screen, C-3PO and his plucky astromech companion, R2-D2, from the legendary Star Wars movie series.

In fact, it's so strong that Toyota used the two droids in a new commercial for its Prius Plug-in Hybrid in Japan.

Mind you, as noted on Leopaul's Blog, Toyota is not the first Japanese carmaker to employ the help of C-3PO and R2-D2 in a car advertisement as Mitsubishi had done the same for its Pajero SUV and the RVR back in 1996.

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Toyota and Lexus Cumulative Hybrid Sales Since 1997 Top 4 Million Vehicles

As of April 30, the Toyota and Lexus brands have both sold more than 4 million hybrid vehicles around the world since the market launch of Toyota's first hybrid model in Japan, the Coaster Hybrid EV in August 1997, followed by the Prius in December of the same year.

Global sales of the Prius began in Europe, North America and other regions in 2000, with the second-generation of the model landing in showrooms in 2003. The Japanese automaker then expanded the use of its hybrid system on other models such as minivans, SUVs, rear-wheel-drive sedans and compact hatchbacks.

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Man Unintentionally Accelerates Brand New Venza into Prius Inside Toyota Dealership

A man's car-hunting trip to the Herb Chambers of Boston Toyota and Scion dealership at 32 Brighton Ave on Wednesday morning led him straight into the hands of the police after he somehow crashed a brand new car into another vehicle inside the showroom.

According to a report from Boston's WCVBTV, eyewitnesses said that the unnamed man was seen sitting inside a black Toyota Venza and revving the engine before the crossover accelerated forward smashing into a silver Prius that was marked as "Sold". Fortunately, no one was hurt.

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Toyota Confirms UK Pricing and Specs of New Prius Plug-in Hybrid

The new plug-in hybrid version of the Toyota Prius will arrive in UK showrooms at a slightly higher price than what the Japanese automaker originally estimated.

Back in September of 2011, Toyota had said that the Prius Plug-in would cost less than £31,000 and under £26,000 if you include the £5,000 government subsidy. Today we learn that the final on-the-road price for the plug-in model is £32,895, which falls to £27,895 with the £5,000 Government grant available on new vehicle purchases through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).

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New Study Finds that Only a Third of Hybrid Owners Buy Hybrids Again

As it seems, the majority of hybrid car owners in the States don't go for seconds, or at least that's what a new study released today by auto research firm Polk reveals.

According to the report, while the number of hybrid models in the U.S. has more than doubled since 2007, only 35 percent or a little over a third of hybrid vehicle owners choose to purchase a hybrid again when returning to market in 2011.

To make matters worse, Polk says that if you exclude the high volume audience of Toyota Prius owners from the equation, hybrid loyalty drops to under 25 percent!

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Toyota's 7-Seater Prius+ MPV to Launch in the UK in July with Prices Starting from £26,195

Toyota has officially opened the order books for its new Prius+ in the UK ahead of the minivan's market launch on 9 July. There are two available equipment grades, the base T4 that is priced at £26,195 and the T Spirit that costs £29,495.

While it's based on the North American market five-seat Prius V, the European Prius+ features an additional third row of child-sized seats and a more efficient and compact set of lithium ion batteries that are positioned within the center console.

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Big in Japan: High Domestic Demand May Affect U.S. Supply of Toyota’s Prius C Small Hybrid

The good news for Toyota is that its recently launched Prius C hybrid is proving to be a hit. In Japan, where it went on sale last December as the Aqua, the sub-compact hybrid received 60,000 orders even before it was even launched and that number has now increased to 120,000 units.

The Prius C / Aqua is manufactured exclusively in Japan at Toyota's Iwate plant. While in 2007, the plant exported around 60 percent of its output, that number has now been halved to 30 percent.

Therefore, the bad news is that despite Toyota's boasting about the fact that it only took three days for the Prius C to sell more units than the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet combined in one month, the Japanese automaker may not be able to satisfy demand for its hybrid model in the U.S. market.

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Toyota Says it Sold More Prius C in Three Days than the Volt and Leaf Combined in a Month

According to Toyota, the newest member of its Prius family of hybrids, the Yaris-sized Prius C, is off to an extremely good start since going on sale in the States on March 12.

In its first three days on the market, the Prius C sold 1,201 units, with Toyota making it a point to note that it surpassed the combined sales of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf for the entire month of February. In other related news, our local grocery disclosed that it sold more apples in an hour than Prius C in a day.

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