Toyota to Build 20 New Hybrids Globally by End of 2015

In less than three years, Toyota will have 20 new or redesigned hybrids worldwide — plus a hydrogen fuel-cell car. That's what Bob Carter, who heads automotive operations at Toyota's U.S. arm, told reporters this morning. Carter spoke at the National Automobile Dealers Association/J.D. Power and Associates' 2013 Automotive Forum on the eve of this week's 2013 New York International Auto Show.

More 2013 New York Auto Show Coverage

Despite the proliferation — if not the sales — of electric cars, Toyota believes "hybrids will remain a core technology" because they can be adapted to other environmental areas, Carter said. Given the number of cars from Toyota and its Lexus and Scion divisions, 20 hybrids seems like a more attainable goal than the automaker's gas-electric gauntlet thrown in 2006, which declared that every forthcoming redesign would include a hybrid version. Toyota backed off that pledge two years later.

Most-Read Car Reviews of the Week

The 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek must've been awfully good this year, as the crossover will spend the Christmas holiday atop Cars.com's most-read reviews list for its sixth straight week. Newcomers to the list this week include the 2013 Toyota RAV4, the 2013 Toyota Avalon and the 2013 Cadillac XTS.

Check out what else was popular this week:

• 1. 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek
• 2. 2013 Toyota RAV4
• 3. 2013 Nissan Pathfinder
• 4. 2013 Toyota Avalon
• 5. 2013 Ford Focus ST
• 6. 2013 Ford Escape
• 7. 2013 Nissan Altima
• 8. 2013 Cadillac XTS
• 9. 2013 Ford Fusion
• 10. 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In

Most-Read Car Reviews of the Week

Still unwilling to share the spotlight after five consecutive weeks, the 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek yet again nabs the No. 1 spot among Cars.com's most-read reviews this week. Another familiar face, the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder, enjoys its second straight week in the runner-up position. Meanwhile, it's worth noting that Ford occupies nearly half the list with the 2013 Escape, Focus ST, Fusion and Explorer.

Check out what else was popular this week:

• 1. 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek
• 2. 2013 Nissan Pathfinder
• 3. 2013 Audi A4
• 4. 2013 Ford Escape
• 5. 2013 Ford Focus ST
• 6. 2013 Acura RDX
• 7. 2013 Nissan Altima
• 8. 2013 Ford Fusion
• 9. 2013 Ford Explorer
• 10. 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In

Cars.com Reviews the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In

Leery about putting all your chips down on either the efficiency of a pure-electric or the acceleration of an extended-range car? Cars.com reviewer Joe Wiesenfelder explains how the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In lets you hedge your hybrid bets. But while the plug-in version boasts a three-hour recharge time on household power and trumps the standard Prius on fuel savings, it costs $8,000 more — making the odds on whether it's worth it a wager you'll have to make for yourself.

2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Review

2013 Toyota Prius Plug-In Video

Toyota's all-new Prius Plug-in is the latest version of the popular hybrid family to hit the streets. Unlike the regular Prius, you plug this one in, so the higher-capacity battery can provide up to 15 miles of pure-electric driving. Yet with a rougher ride and minimal EV range, Cars.com reviewer Joe Wiesenfelder questions whether the nearly $8,000 price premium over a standard Prius is worth it. The masses of loyal Prius buyers seem to think so, however.

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Prius Plug-In Quietly Ranks No. 2
2012 Toyota Prius V, 2012 Prius Plug-in Priced at $26,400 and $32,000
Toyota's Prius Still MPG Champ

Prius Plug-In Quietly Ranks No. 2

The much-ballyhooed sales figures for the Chevrolet Volt hide another green-car success: the Toyota Prius Plug-In. Toyota's rechargeable hybrid hummed along with 1,652 sales in September, and it's only available in 15 coastal states. You won’t be able to buy it in the rest of the U.S. until next year.

That hasn't stopped the Prius Plug-In with 7,734 sales so far this year from earning a comfortable second place between the Volt and the Nissan Leaf. The Prius Plug-In has been on sale since last fall and spent much of the following spring among the fastest-selling cars in America. In some months, it even outpaced the first-place Volt, which spent much of this year facing more politicization than Joe the Plumber.

GM fought back, discounting Volt leases to as little as $269 a month for three years with roughly $2,800 down — leading some experts to argue it's better to lease a Volt than buy it. Is it bad business for GM? Perhaps, as the 2013 Volt now leases for $299 a month. Toyota undercuts that today with leases as low as $269 in some areas on the 2012 Prius Plug-In if you pony up as much as $3,599 at signing. Pay up to $459 a month and you can walk away with a Prius Plug-In in some areas with no money down.

Toyota's Prius Still MPG Champ

If you think you see the Toyota Prius everywhere, that's because it is. Sales of Toyota's most popular hybrid are continually strong, undoubtedly propelled by the lure of high fuel economy. However, more automakers have joined the hybrid movement since the Prius' introduction in 2000. Toyota has even expanded the Prius family with the Mini-Me Prius c and puffed-up Prius v.

Is the traditional Prius still on top? We took it on a road trip, and in terms of fuel economy, the answer is a resounding yes.

May's Fastest and Slowest Selling Cars

The Toyota Prius may have left the Top 10 Best-Sellers last month, but shoppers still snapped up the latest additions to the Prius family: the Prius Plug-in and subcompact Prius c. Both have been among the fastest-selling cars since they hit Toyota dealerships earlier this spring.

Speaking of spring, the hottest one on record played well for Mercedes-Benz. The first full redesign in a decade for the iconic SL-Class roadster needed just eight days per car, on average, to sell. That car starts at $106,405 including destination.

Another droptop, the updated Ford Mustang convertible, sold fast, too, but its crosstown rival, the Chevrolet Camaro convertible, sat at Chevy dealers an average of 119 days. It joins a Losers list that remains mostly unchanged, with a scattering of posh — but slow-selling — nameplates.

Daily News Briefs: May 29, 2012

The Toyota Prius is now the third best-selling car across the globe, according to Bloomberg News. The growth comes from strong sales in both Japan and the United States, Bloomberg News reports. With 247,230 models sold in the first quarter of 2012, the Prius trails only the Ford Focus (277,000) and the Toyota Corolla (300,800); the Corolla remains the best-selling car of all time. Prius sales have nearly doubled over last year on the backs of recent extensions to the Prius-brand lineup like the Prius v, Prius Plug-in and recently launched Prius c (known as the Aqua in Japan). The Toyota Prius remains Japan's top-selling version, with the Toyota Aqua in a close second place. The Prius brand was the fifth best-selling model in the U.S. for April.

In other news:

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars: April 2012

Eight of March's 10 best-sellers returned to the table in April, but one of the newbies may surprise you. In March, an incentive-heavy Nissan Altima fell just 1,517 cars short of the redesigned Toyota Camry, clinching the No. 2 best-selling car position. Incentives remain high, but Altima sales dropped drastically enough to knock it off the top 10 list. Instead, shoppers drifted toward the Honda Accord and Toyota Prius.

The Accord, one of April's two newcomers, gained 25.6% last month, snapping three months' sales malaise to fall just 1,435 cars short of the hard-charging, recently redesigned Camry. The shift surprised us, given the Accord is in its final year before a redesign while incentives are about the same as a year ago.

There's little surprise that the Prius' sales catapulted 101.7% despite gas prices leveling off this month. Three new Prius variants — a subcompact Prius c, larger Prius v and rechargeable Prius Plug-in — accounted for 76% of that rise. Strip those away, however, and even the original Prius handily outpaced its year-ago sales.