Toyota’s third Prius hybrid variant hasn’t hit the lucrative North American market just yet, but the Japanese automaker is already considering the car a success at home.
Toyota says that it has already received 120,000 orders for the Japanese market version of the Toyota Aqua, which will be badged as the Prius c in North America. That figure represents about ten times Toyota’s monthly sales target of 12,000 vehicles in Japan.
It’s possible that the automaker will boost production of the new hybrid to meet demand in Japan, although no announcement has been made. The Aqua/Prius c is built in Iwate, Japan.
Japan is traditionally the strongest market for Toyota’s various Prius-based models; its standard Prius flagship was the best-selling car in the Asian country last year. While the country’s new car industry was hard hit by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Northern Japan, Toyota still managed to find buyers for more than 250,000 Priuses at home to help secure the model as a top-seller.
