The Toyota Prius Became the First Successful Hybrid Car about 25 years ago, But Since September, You can no longer order it in the Netherlands. Remarkable, because half of the new cars are hybrid. Was the Japanese icon overtaken by the competition?
Toyota Netherlands No Longer Accepts Orders for the Prius. So the Car is experienced a bittersweet anniversary. In The Early Years, The Hybrid Car was Futuristic and Hip; Hollywood Stars Drove It With Pride.
Now Its Time is Up, Writes Toyota, and the Company Points to its Other Hybrid Models. Yet Those Do Not Reach The Sales Figures of the Prius in its Heyday. The Competition between Plug-in Cars is Now Greater and Fiercer.
“It’s a Shame they don’t give the prius name to a new model,” Says Rico Luman, Sector Economist Automotive at ING Research. He thinks it remains an iconic name for a hybrid. “Toyota itself also has a good reputation for reliable cars with good performance. But higher suvs are now popular.”
The Prius Always Remained a Compact Family Car; A Model That the Dutch Are Now Less Enthusiastic About. BOVAG Registered Just about 50 New Priuses Since August 2025. For Comparison: In 2009, Toyota Sold 8,300 and Millions Have Left Showrooms Worldwide Since 1997.
More People Are Opting for Hybrid
Toyota Therefore Does Not Lose Much Turnover by Stopping Sales Now. “Lately We Hardly Received Any Requests for a Toyota Prius, While Hybrid Driving is Trending Again,” Says Patrick Van Heijningen, Sales Manager for ActiveLease. That is an online lease advisor specialized in electric cars.
Accordance to him, the popularity of Hybrids Has a Clear Cause. “The Government Will Further Reduce Tax Benefits forully Electric Driving Next Year. That is why more people are opting for the versatility of a hybrid, just though full -electric cars are now also Excellent.”
In 1997, The First Generation Prius Did Not Even Have A Plug. Power was generated, Among Other Things, by Brakking and the Driving System Itelf determined when the electric motor Helped the Petrol Engine. Hybrid Models still build on this technology, including the fifth and final generation toyota prius. It now has a plug and can drive approxroximately 85 kilometers fully electric.
“With that electric range, it can still compete well with other hybrids,” Van Heijningen Knows. He Still Remembers Driving the First Generation Prius Once. “I Didn’t Know What I Was Seeing. I SAW The Live Status of the Electric Motor On The Screen and Everything Looked Completely Unique.”
Environmentally Conscious Prius Attracted Hollywood Stars
That unique, Bulbous Design of the Older Prius Generations was not equally popular with all Car Enthusiasts. Yet you immediately saw that an environmentally friendly car was approaching, which counted in trendy Hollywood. Many actors and artists put a prius in the driveway, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Miley Cyrus, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. The United States Will Always Remain the Biggest Success Story for the Hybrid Toyota.
With the latest Prius Facelift, The Bulbous Appearance Has Been Exchanged for a Sleeker Design. It looks tougher and more like other hybrid cars. Less Special, Luman Thinks. “The Dutch Driver Can Now Choose from Many More Hybrids. We are also ahead of the world: there are many more full -electric vehicles here. Toyota is meanwhile lagging behind the trend a bit.”
‘Toyota Invested Too Much in Driving on Hydrogen’
The Japanese group Now has Several Large Plug-in Cars, Such as the Toyota CH-R and the Rav4. The BZ4X SUV is fully electric. “The Development of Those Models took Longer because Toyota, in Addition to the Prius, had invested more in hydrogen cars than in electric Driving.” Hydrogen is also Environmentally Friendly, but much less popular than electric. Currently there are still less than a thousand hydrogen cars in the Netherlands.
The Prius is Leaving, but Hybrid Driving is not going away. Toyota is still in the race, just though brands such as tesla and kia are now doing better among electric-driving Dutch people. The Brand Mentions the Aygo X and RAV4 AS THE NATURAL SUCCESSORS TO THE PRIUS. Van Heijningen also sees that reflected in the applications. “That last SUV is Doing QUITE Well.”