Welcome to Exhaust Notes, our self-titled, semiregular roundup of automotive bits and pieces from around the Web. Unlike other posts on this blog, these are truly notes, but they're worth a few moments of your precious time.
Today, we've got some congratulating to do on a car we generally don't care for and need to fuel some rumors that a European car brand might be sold to a Chinese automaker.
Prius tops 3 million in global sales
Toyota has just hit the 3-million mark for its venerable Prius nameplate since the hybrid first went on sale in 1997. More than a third (1.33 million) have been sold in North America, topping Japan by 10,000 units. Europeans, enamored as they are with diesel, bought only 262,000 Prius models in that same time.
It didn't happen overnight. When the first Prius arrived in the United States in 2001, it was hampered by high sticker prices, low gas prices and no incentives. It was a car for people who wanted to experiment. But three generations later, the Prius is now a full lineup and has gone entirely mainstream, including the subcompact Prius C, which beats the regular Prius on city mileage, a larger Prius V and a plug-in Prius that can run for longer on its battery pack.
While it's too young to be called an icon, the Toyota Prius created the modern-day hybrid in all its forms. Sky-high fuel economy, seamless powertrains and a general aloofness from the road have characterized the Prius since it went from a frumpy sedan to a proud, egg-shaped hatch in 2003. It was that model, too, that pegged its popularity. Global sales soared from 123,000 during the first six production years to 1.19 million during the second-generation car's eight-year lifespan. No other fossil-fueled car, be it powered by gasoline or diesel, is as efficient by EPA standards as the latest Prius, nor is any other hybrid as popular. A new model is scheduled for the 2015 model year, and from the spy shots, well, what can we say? It's definitely a Prius.
Will a Chinese automaker buy another European car company?
With Chinese automakers stuffed with government cash and hungry to tackle the global market, we've seen no shortage of bids to buy struggling car companies and their suppliers. But while Geely is the only such automaker to fully own a Western brand (Volvo), that hasn't stopped rumors from our friends at China Car Times, who say Beijing Auto may buy a "major Western brand in the second half of the year."
That website, a good news source that closely follows Chinese media reports and local rumblings that often get overlooked in the Western automotive media, says that Beijing Auto's president Xu He Yi wants to establish a presence in Europe by buying a company with "considerable brand heritage." Two unnamed automakers are reportedly on the line; one could be Peugeot, considering its poor fiscal performance and possible sale to General Motors.
We doubt it'd be anything German -- no one owns the German automakers but the Germans -- and Fiat looks too strong to consider selling parts of its empire, save for perhaps the smaller Alfa Romeo or Lancia brands. Could it be Spanish-made Seat? At this point, it's all rumor, but keep the guesses coming in the comments below.
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Source: MSN
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