05/09/2008 02:45. Toyota, the world's second-largest carmaker, aims to double European sales of its Prius model as higher fuel costs and tighter rules on carbon dioxide emissions increase the gasoline-electric hybrid's appeal.

Toyota is targeting sales of 90,000 Prius cars in 2010 compared with 43,000 predicted for this year, Tadashi Arashima, chief executive officer of Toyota Europe, told reporters today at an event to mark the $115 million expansion of the company's technical center near Brussels.

A shortage of batteries has held back sales of the Japanese-made Prius in Europe, Arashima said. "We've seen demand increasing over the past year or two with higher gasoline prices" and new taxes based on CO2 emissions, he said.

Toyota, the first to introduce hybrids, now faces a challenge to its "green"... // Houston Chronicle