Prius debuted in 2000 in Europe, with cumulative sales reaching 213,000 units by the end of 2010.
Germany’s leading technical inspection association, TÜV, says the Toyota Prius ranks in first place for quality for vehicles aged two to three years. TÜV reports only 2.2% of the Prius hybrids inspected showed signs of a defect.
Toyota’s Auris was a close second in the same category at just 2.3% compared with an average of 5.5%. Furthermore, vehicles across Toyota’s product line performed well in the annual report – including the Avensis, Corolla Verso, RAV4 and Yaris models.
Toyota was the most successful brand with 17 Toyota vehicles placed in Top 10 spots across the various age categories and vehicle models.
With Toyota under attack for its quality and safety defect records, the independent TÜV data are an interesting counter to ongoing negative publicity.
The majority of all mandatory technical inspections in Germany are carried out by the TÜV. The 2011 TÜV Report is based on some 7.25 million vehicles inspected by TÜV between July 2009 and June 2010.
“We are extremely proud of the achievement by the Prius which has always been the most dependable and innovative product in our line-up,” said Toshiaki Yasuda, President of Toyota Deutschland GmbH accepting the award on behalf of Toyota.
First published four decades ago, the annual report by TÜV is an indicator of long-term reliability and overall quality of vehicles after they are on the road.
