PriusChat started the party early back in April on Earth Day and Toyota USA has finally joined in the 10th birthday party celebration with a marketing effort of their own. Meetings in Japan began on "Project G21", as the Prius was codenamed, back in 1990, but the North American market never saw an actual car until the North American International Auto Show in 2000.

On Earth Day in 2000, Toyota officially announced that the Prius would be hitting U.S. shores, along with pricing and purchase information. Hard to believe that it has been 10 years since "the Prius that shook the world" was introduced to the U.S. market.

Over the last 10 years we have seen the rise and fall of many hybrid cars, but none have been able to replicate the tremendous ascent the Prius has seen in the last decade. Toyota has now sold over 1 million hybrids in the U.S., and it's all thanks to the little car shown above.