The Auris Hybrid, which as the UK’s biggest-selling alternative-fuel vehicle for the first six months of June, sold 36,505 units across Europe, a share of a model which was up 18.4% against the same period of 2013.

Hybrid take-up was actually slightly higher in the Sports Tourer, at 18,739 units or 62.5% of the total sales, while 40.6% of hatchback buyers chose the drivetrain. The Auris Sports Tourer is the only hybrid estate in the C-segment.

The Yaris Hybrid, which is also unique in its segment, recorded 29,945 registrations during the first half of the year – 30.7% of the car’s 97,427 customers. Prius hatchback sales numbered 5,039, of which the Prius Plug-in, at 804 units, took 16.0% the total sales.

In the MPV segment, the seven-seat Prius+ found 4,235 homes across Europe, taking hybrid technology to a 16.8% share of Toyota’s 24,068 sales in this sector, alongside the Verso.

Sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid models reached 90,290 units during the same period, making up one fifth of the total sales. Lexus Hybrid sales increased by 40% in the first half of the year, with the new IS hybrid representing over one third of those sales.