The first exit was a bit overwhelming for us. Not because there were two engines, one of them electric, working under the hood. But driving around a German roundabout in a right-hand drive vehicle registered in Japan required the utmost concentration. Apart from that, the first Toyota Prius seemed to us to be a viable and, above all, drivable path into the future, as at the time it wasn’t about zero emissions, but rather about saving fuel. The German version was available at dealers for the first time 25 years ago, with the steering wheel on the correct side of course. The manufacturer had already gained several years of experience with series production back home. The success was initially limited; the importer sold 604 Prius in this country in the first year. The aerodynamically optimized and rather boring body may have contributed to this. But the company stuck to the drive concept, continually developed it further and transplanted it into numerous other models. The perseverance paid off. By the end of last year, Toyota had sold more than five million Prius and many more cars with the same technology worldwide. Audi could have cut a big piece of this cake. The Ingolstadt-based company had already started selling a hybrid vehicle in 1997 with the A4 Avant Duo. Unlike that of the Prius, the battery could even be charged externally via a plug, and the combustion engine was a modern diesel. The advance through technology didn’t help, just a year later Audi stopped selling again due to low sales figures. The Volkswagen Group doesn’t seem to have learned too much from this, and one change of strategy follows the next to this day. The fact that other European manufacturers don’t do better is little consolation. It would help to look east from time to time.More on the topic
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