Company News: Toyota hybrid sales hit one million

A decade after the first Prius went on sale, Toyota’s global sales of hybrid vehicles have hit a landmark 1 million, underlining the Japanese automaker’s lead in “green” technology that has changed the face of the auto industry.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s cumulative sales of gas-and-electric-powered vehicles totaled 1.047 million as of the end of May. Of those, nearly 345,000 hybrids were sold in Japan, while 702,000 were sold abroad, the company said in a statement Thursday.

Sales of Toyota hybrids have climbed from just 18,000 in 1998 to 312,500 last year, the company said.

Demand for hybrids, which deliver superior mileage by switching between a gasoline engine and electric motor, has soared amid higher fuel prices and greater consumer concern about pollution and global warming.

Toyota’s dominance in the category has driven Detroit’s automakers to follow with their own versions and to rely less on lower-mileage SUVs for their profits.

“Toyota is clearly ahead of the pack in hybrids,” said Tsuyoshi Mochimaru, auto analyst with Deutsche Securities in Tokyo.

The Prius is the overwhelming leader in the category, with a total of 757,600 units sold since its 1997 introduction in Japan.

“V8 and other hot-selling juices produced by the Campbell Soup Co. could soon show up in a lot more places, particularly convenience stores, where they’ve been hard to find in the past.

The Camden-based company announced Thursday that Coca-Cola North America will distribute its juices in the United States and Canada, starting in September.

The iconic companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal, which applies to single-serve bottles of V8, V8 V-Fusion, V8 Splash and Campbell’s tomato juices.

“The head of the Chicago Board of Trade said Thursday that the commodities exchange still supports a buyout proposal from its cross-town rival, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

CBOT President and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Dan told investors he believed federal regulators would complete their review of the proposed takeover by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. before shareholders from each company vote on the buyout July 9.

Dan said CBOT, owned by CBOT Holdings Inc., continued to favor a $9.8 billion CME offer over a competing $11.2 billion bid from Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange Inc. The value of each offer changes daily based on fluctuations in stock prices.