Toyota Prius is Silicon Valley's best-selling car

Friday, July 20, 2007

(07-20) 16:08 PDT San Jose, Calif. (AP) --

Eco-conscious motorists helped make the Toyota Prius the top-selling car in Silicon Valley.

The gas-electric hybrids made up 1,627 — just over 5 percent — of the 30,463 new cars and trucks registered in the Santa Clara County between January and May, according to auto industry research firm R.L. Polk.

Prius sales in Silicon Valley topped sales of Toyota's Camry and Corolla and Honda's Accord and Civic, all of which outsell the Prius nationwide. The hybrid was the county's No. 5 car last year.

"Are we ahead of the curve, or what?" asked Rod Diridon, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University, and a Prius owner.

Diridon attributed the hybrid's increasing popularity in Silicon Valley to growing awareness of global warming, sustained high gas prices and carpool-lane stickers that were available to hybrid drivers until recently.

The 2007 Prius is the most fuel-efficient car on the road, getting 60 miles per gallon in the city and 51 mpg on the highway, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

So far this year, Prius sales nationwide are up 96 percent over the same period last year, according to industry publication Automotive News.

Still, the car's 94,000 sales so far this year represent only about 1 percent of all U.S. car and truck sales.