After the 1997 launch of the Toyota Prius in Japan, it was released in 2000 in the U.S., one year after the release of Honda Insight. Soon after, hybrid cars became very successful, with demand greatly outpacing supply.
Honda Insight
The relatively huge demand was somewhat unexpected, resulting in delivery waiting lists as long as one year in 2002, 2003, and 2004, at least for the Toyota Prius.
The U.S. sales of hybrid cars reached about 80,000 in 2004, with analysts expecting as many as 470,000 hybrid vehicles to be sold in 2007
