Prius Sales Top 1 Million in U.S.

Toyota's energy-efficient hybrid passes the million mark, leaving much of the competition in its nearly emissions-free exhaust.

Toyota announced Wednesday that it has now sold a million Prius hybrid cars in the U.S., just as gas prices are nearing record highs. The Prius, or Prii, as its plural form was recently voted upon to be, was first introduced in Japan way back in 1997 (!) and was the first hybrid vehicle to reach the mainstream auto-buying public, going a long way in proving that research and development into energy efficiency pays off. Sure, it's been stereotyped to death as the car of choice for the bohemian-bourgeois set, but the Prius, selling strong at 14 years old, deserves a fair share of credit for kick-starting the auto industry into seriously thinking beyond petroleum.