Toyota Prius Voted European Car of Year

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius hybrid has been voted 2005 European Car of the Year, Japan's top auto maker said Monday, after the fuel-sipping sedan picked up the corresponding title in North America in January.

Since its launch in early 2004, sales of the second-generation gasoline-electric Prius, which is in short supply all over the world, are expected to reach 8,500 units in Europe this year, the world's second-biggest auto maker said.

Toyota is forecasting a near-doubling in European sales of the Prius -- which became the world's first mass-marketed gasoline-electric hybrid car to hit the streets in 1997 -- to 15,000 units next year.

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