Toyota Motor Corp., with as little as one day's worth of Prius cars on dealer lots after the March earthquake, says sales of the hybrid will still beat 2010.
Asia's largest automaker is racing to replenish supply after the lack of inventory led to a 61 percent drop in Prius deliveries in the U.S. in June, to the lowest level since September 2004. Almost half of Prius models are sold in the U.S., where the car accounts for more than 60 percent of hybrids sold since 1999, according to data supplied by automakers.
The Prius, the company's No. 3 selling car after the Corolla and Camry, is the fastest-growing Toyota brand this year, even with the quake-depleted inventories. Demand for fuel-efficient cars has increased this year with higher gas prices. General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Cruze was June's top-selling car in the U.S., while deliveries of Ford Motor Co.'s Focus rose 41 percent.