Japanese automaker , Toyota , is hoping for annual sales of 60k units of its new Prime , according to Koji Toyoshima , chief designer of the next - gen hybrid vehicle . Half of these sales are expected to come from America , and the other half from Japan . Conceding that the first Prius plug-in hybrid was "a failure," a top Toyota Motor Corp. engineer expects sales of the next-generation Prius Prime to soar thanks to a host of engineering and styling tweaks. Interestingly , while the car will go on sale in some European markets , only “ marginal ” sales are expected in that region . The Prime has a lot to learn and a somewhat battered reputation to fix , given that Toyota itself deemed the previous generation Prius “ a failure ” after sales of only 75k units since its launch in 2012 . To add to the pressure , Honda and Hyundai are both launching direct Prius competitors in the coming years , in the form of the Clarity and the Ioniq respectively .
Japanese automaker , Toyota , is hoping for annual sales of 60k units of its new Prime , according to Koji Toyoshima , chief designer of the next - gen hybrid vehicle . Half of these sales are expected to come from America , and the other half from Japan . Interestingly , while the car will go on sale in some European markets , only “ marginal ” sales are expected in that region . The Prime has a lot to learn and a somewhat battered reputation to fix , given that Toyota itself deemed the previous generation Prius “ a failure ” after sales of only 75k units since its launch in 2012 . To add to the pressure , Honda and Hyundai are both launching direct Prius competitors in the coming years , in the form of the Clarity and the Ioniq respectively .