Toyota Prius voted European Car of the Year

Toyota Motor's Prius hybrid has been voted 2005 European Car of the Year, Japan's top auto maker said yesterday, after the fuel-sipping sedan picked up the corresponding title in North America in January.

Since its launch in early 2004, sales of the second-generation gasoline-electric Prius, which is in short supply all over the world, are expected to reach 8,500 units in Europe this year, the world's second-biggest auto maker said.

Toyota is forecasting a near-doubling in European sales of the Prius - which became the world's first mass-marketed gasoline-electric hybrid car to hit the streets in 1997 - to 15,000 units next year.

It was the third time for a Japanese brand to win the European award since its inception in 1964, after Nissan's Micra compact - called the March in Japan - in 1993 and Toyota's Yaris - also known as the Vitz - in the same segment in 2000.

"We are absolutely delighted to receive the 2005 Car of the Year award for Prius," Tadashi Arashima, chief executive of Toyota Motor Marketing Europe, said in a statement.

"This is a major milestone in the acceptance of the hybrid powertrain and the recognition of its potential to become a mainstream technology."

This year's jury consisted of 58 motoring journalists representing 22 European countries.