The eco-friendly cars have helped reduce emissions linked to the transportation sector

Jan 15, 2014 20:21 GMT  ·  By

Japanese automaker Toyota has finished compiling a new round of information concerning global sales of its hybrid vehicles, and is pleased to announce that, since it first started marketing such cars until present day, it has sold over 6 million units.

In a press release published on the company's website this past January 14, the company writes that, by December 31, 2013, people across the world had purchased 6.072 million Toyota hybrids, including plug-ins.

“Toyota Motor Corporation announces that cumulative global sales of its hybrid vehicles topped the 6 million unit mark as of December 31, 2013, reaching 6.072 million units,” the press release reads.

“The latest million-unit milestone was achieved in the fastest time yet for Toyota, taking just nine months,” the Japanese automaker goes on to detail.

Toyota draws attention to the fact that, according to information at hand, its selling this many hybrid vehicles over the years has yielded noteworthy environmental benefits.

More precisely, the company says that, thanks to the environmentally friendly hybrid cars it has until now manufactured and marketed, the planet's atmosphere is now free of some 41 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

The Japanese automaker explains that this amount of carbon emissions would have surely worked its way into the environment were the people who purchased Toyota hybrids to have instead opted for cars of similar size and driving performance that ran on gasoline.

This drop in carbon emissions linked to the transportation sector is due to the fact that roughly 15 million kiloliters of gasoline have remained unburned.

“Toyota calculates that as of December 31, 2013, Toyota hybrid vehicles have resulted in approximately 41 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions than would have been emitted by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size and driving performance,” the company says.

“Toyota also estimates that its hybrid vehicles have saved approximately 15 million kiloliters of gasoline compared to the amount used by gasoline-powered vehicles of similar size,” it adds.

Given the fact that carbon dioxide has been documented to contribute to global warming, any drop in emissions of this greenhouse gas can only come as good news as far as environmental protection is concerned.

According to Green Car Congress, the Japanese automaker currently markets as many as 24 hybrid passenger car models and e plug-in hybrid models in roughly 80 countries and regions across the world.

Over the course of the following two years, Toyota intends to introduce the global automotive market to 15 new hybrid vehicles.