However, Toyota fired back at Press on Wednesday, saying that his allegations are untrue. "I can say 100 percent that Toyota received absolutely no support -- no money, no grants -- from the Japanese government for the development of the Prius," Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco told The Detroit News.
While it's not uncommon for the for the Japanese government to fund private-sector projects, Press' allegations are the first that have accused Toyota of receiving funds from the Japanese government in the 10 year production run of the Prius.
If Toyota did in fact receive funding from the Japanese government, that would mean that the Japanese automaker had a huge advantage over U.S. automakers as they did not have the same kind of concessions from the U.S. government. However, since no one has ever heard or made these claims before, it seems a little hard to believe that Toyota would have received such funding -- which would have been worth at least tens of millions of dollars -- without anyone else knowing.
The Toyota Prius is the best-selling hybrid vehicle in the world and since its launch in 1997, Toyota has sold close to 1 million Prius vehicles worldwide.
