In 1997, Toyota started production of a controversial car with advanced technology: the Prius. We really don’t know anyone who thinks the design of this four-door sedan is successful, on the contrary. However, when it comes to its hybrid powertrain, friend and foe agree that it is ahead of its time. So much so that in 1998, two years before its official introduction on the Dutch market, environment minister Margreet de Boer allowed herself to be driven for two weeks in a Prius as an official car to use the new technology to draw attention to the bpm exemption for cars with environmentally friendly technology. to bring. When the Prius then appears in our showroom in 2000, its bed seems spread. But unfortunately, the Dutch motorist completely ignores the car. The first-generation Prius is internally referred to as the NHW10 and is only available in Japan. When exports start in 2000 and the car receives a small update for the occasion, it will continue as the NHW11 until its replacement by the second generation in 2003. The first Toyota Prius, already in Japan at the end of 1997 and for the first time in Europe in 2000. Success of the Toyota Prius thanks to 14 percent Despite the initially hesitant reception, Toyota continues to believe in the concept of its hybrid powertrain. And with success: when a lower addition is calculated for the Prius in 2008 (14 instead of the usual 25 percent), things start to run rampant here. Sales figures are also rising globally, not least because the car from generation two is equipped with a less offensive five-door body. Generation two goes through life as the XW20. Unlike its predecessor, it is now not a sedan, but a five-door hatchback with a significantly less offensive appearance. The basic setup of the powertrain leaves Toyota untouched, because that’s fine. It’s more about detail improvements. For the first time, the car is also being built outside Japan: FAW-Toyota assembles the Prius in Changchun for the Chinese market. Toyota Prius III in 2009 When Toyota presents the third generation of the Prius in 2009, it appears that the brand was more satisfied with the second generation than with the first (not least because of the sales numbers). The third is in fact a clear evolution of the second. It is again a five-door hatchback and its lines are very similar to that of its predecessor. Fourth generation Prius very striking The fourth generation Prius, introduced in 2015, could not turn the tide. The car had an even less common appearance, which was not well received in Europe. For Toyota itself, that was not necessarily a bad thing; for those who thought it was an ugly thing, the brand now had more common-lined hybrids. It did, however, put a noose around the neck of the Prius. In 2016, the first full year in which the fourth Prius was on the market, Toyota sold 663 more. The years after that were really over, and in recent years completely. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, Toyota sold less than 100 units per year in the Netherlands, while the Corolla Hybrid did well at the same time. Generation 5 is coming This year it’s time for the fifth generation Toyota Prius. You can read how it drives here. Earlier we were introduced to the latest generation, which only comes to Europe as a plug-in hybrid. Toyota Prius