Toyota Motor Corp. has received as of Wednesday about 2,000 orders for its newly developed Prius, the world's first mass produced hybrid car, the company announced Friday.
The Prius, powered by both an electric motor and a 1.5-liter gasoline engine, went on sale for 2.15 million yen Wednesday. The orders have already topped Toyota's initial sales target of 1,000 units per month.
"People who are interested in new technologies and people who are environmentally conscious are placing orders," said a Toyota spokesman. The Prius is considered environment-friendly because its fuel efficiency is high and it emits half the amount of carbon dioxide released by conventional gasoline cars.
Of the 2,000 orders, about 60 percent were placed by individual consumers and 40 percent by corporations. The vehicle has attracted the interest of people from a wide range of age groups, the company said.
But the Toyota spokesman said the percentage of individual customers will eventually increase once potential customers have the opportunity to see the car in dealers' showrooms and take it out for a test drive. About half the orders were placed by customers seeking to replace old cars, with the remainder completely new orders, the automaker said.