DETROIT -- Toyota will import 100,000 Prius hybrid cars to the United States in 2005, the automaker said last Thursday. Through the end of August of this year, Prius sales totaled 31,406 units, a Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. spokesman said. But those sales do not come close to meeting demand, with buyers in some parts of the United States waiting up to six months for their cars to arrive. The 2005 importation numbers are equal to the total number of Prius cars sold in the United States since it was introduced to the market in June 2000. Toyota, which became the world's first automaker to develop a hybrid car for mass production in 1997, has targeted annual global sales of 300,000 hybrid vehicles by 2005. The automaker also plans to introduce hybrid versions of its Lexus RX 300 and Highlander sport utility vehicles early next year. Last month California Senator Dianne Feinstein and Fresno Mayor Alan Autry met with Toyota representatives about building a Prius plant in Fresno, California.
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