75,000 Toyota Prius already ordered

According to the Nikkei business daily, Toyota has already received over 75,000 orders for their new 2010 Prius, which looks like it’ll be a fierce competitor for the Honda Insight. The Honda hybrid was launched in Japan back in February and the Japanese carmaker managed to sell 20,000 units in the first three months, a lot more than what they were expecting. Toyota hasn’t yet confirmed these numbers, a spokeswoman for the company saying they haven’t yet compiled dealers’ orders ahead of the scheduled launch on Monday.

Toyota, who is facing an incredible $8.6 billion potential operating loss in the year to next March, is currently going through a major top level management change. The company’s founder grandson, Akio Toyoda, will be named head of the company next month, on June 23, while former executive, Yoshimi Inaba, which left the company in 2007, will be the new head of US operations. In total, more than 40 percent of Toyota’s top managers are or will be replaced.

[Source: Reuters]

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