Toyota and Ford Reach Hybrid Milestones

Two milestones were reached this week in the annals of hybrid vehicles. Toyota announced that it had sold its one millionth hybrid in the United States. And Ford has produced its 100,000th.

Ford said the significant vehicle rolled off the assembly line at its Kansas City plant on Tuesday.

It took Ford five years to reach that mark. But the company predicts that future milestones will occur much more quickly, because it is adding the Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids to its lineup this spring.
Bill Ford, the company’s chairman, said the achievement was representative of Ford’s “growing commitment†to advanced powertrain technologies, and reiterated the company’s plan to bring a new generation of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids to market by 2012.

Toyota, meanwhile, did not differentiate when or where, or even which of its six hybrid gas-electric vehicles was the one millionth sold. But the achievement was announced Wednesday at its headquarters in Torrance, Calif.

It took a decade, however, to get to this milestone.

Toyota and Ford Reach Hybrid Milestones - Wheels Blog - NYTimes.com