Toyota confirmed number one in quality by Germany’s leading association of technical inspection agencies

Toyota was presented with the TÜV Gold Badge for its full hybrid Prius at an award ceremony in Berlin on January 25, 2011. This follows the publication, in December last year, of the 2011 TÜV Report in which Toyota emerged as the most successful brand with 17 Toyota vehicles placed in Top 10 spots across the various age categories and vehicle models.

In latest report by Germany's leading technical inspection association, the Prius took the number one spot in the category for vehicles aged two to three years with only 2.2% of the vehicles inspected showing any signs of defect. Toyota's Auris came a close second in the same category at just 2.3% when the category average is some 5.5%. Vehicles across Toyota's product line-up featuring strongly in the report include the Avensis, Corolla Verso, RAV4 and Yaris models.

"We are extremely proud of the achievement by the Prius which has always been the most dependable and innovative product in our line-up," said Toshiaki Yasuda, President of Toyota Deutschland GmbH accepting the award on behalf of Toyota.

First published four decades ago, the annual report by the TÜV has become a helpful guide to customers by showing long-term reliability and overall quality of vehicles available on the market today.

"We are pleased to be acknowledged as the market leader in quality. The 2011 TÜV Report recognises the hard work we put into ensuring superior quality in each and every single vehicle we produce," said Didier Leroy, President of Toyota Motor Europe. "This award confirms the trust we see from our customers towards our products and something which we take a great deal of pride in."

The majority of all mandatory technical inspections in Germany are carried out through the various bodies of the TÜV organisation. The 2011 TÜV Report is based on some 7.25 million vehicles inspected by the TÜV between July 2009 and June 2010.

The first generation of Toyota's innovative Prius vehicle was first introduced to the Japanese market in 1997. Since then, the combined sales of all three generations of the Prius amount to 2.1 million units worldwide. The European debut of the Prius came in 2000, with cumulative sales reaching 213,000 units by the end of 2010.