A lot of people will criticize the sales of the Chevy Volt by GM or the Nissan Leaf, but when you really look back they’re selling at significantly higher opening volumes than the Prius when it came out fifteen years ago.
— Bloomberg reporter Jamie Butters, reflecting on the news that the Toyota Prius – once derided by libertarian and conservative commentators as a vehicle destined to be a failure for Toyota – is now the third best-selling line of cars in the world.