Toyota’s February: Best Sales Month for Prius in Almost Four Years

Toyota Prius U.S. sales tallied 20,589 units in February, the hybrid car’s best monthly total since April 2008, when it accounted for 21,757 deliveries, according to WardsAuto data.

Rising gasoline prices are believed to have triggered the gain, as happened when the last spike occurred. But solid inventory also is a factor as Toyota operations finally are returning to normal following disruptions caused by last year’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan, where the Prius is assembled.

Prius stocks at the start of this month numbered 25,000 or a days’ supply of 24 to 29, Bob Carter, group vice president and general manager-Toyota Div., tells media today in a conference call.

Carter says it’s difficult to say which factor was the greater influence on Prius buyers, but he suggests volatile pump prices might have pulled ahead spring demand.

Toyota, Lexus and Scion accounted for 159,423 deliveries – the auto maker’s best monthly  performance since December and a 7.9% jump from February 2011.

Normalizing inventory and gas-price spikes also helped power sales of some of Toyota’s other fuel-efficient models.

Deliveries of the new-for-’12 Yaris spiked 78.1% above like-2011. However, the B-car’s February total of 3,611 still trailed well behind Nissan’s Versa, the industry’s top-selling subcompact. Nissan delivered 10,190 Versas in February.

Despite an industrywide swing in favor of small-car demand, deliveries of the Toyota Corolla compact plunged 13.4% last month. Carter blames lack of inventory.

The Scion tC and xD saw their sales slip 4.8% and 2.7%, respectively.

Nearly all Toyota-brand light trucks tumble in February. The Tacoma small pickup was the notable exception, recording a 29.9% bounce from like-2011.

Lexus rode its GS 350 model to a 15.9% February sales climb. The redesigned sedan saw its deliveries soar 644.8% from prior-year’s meager volume.

The luxury brand’s best-selling car in February was the aging ES 350. Deliveries rose 10.7% to 2,997.

Lexus light trucks slipped 16.3% as the brand’s top-volume model, the RX CUV, added another month to its losing streak. Year-over-year RX sales have not climbed above 1% since last March, according to  WardsAuto.

Despite the tC and xD falloff, Scion deliveries jumped 20.2%, compared with like-2011. The brand’s totals were boosted by the new iQ’s 864-unit tally. Sales of the boxy xB rose 4.7%.

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