Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest producer of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, said it expects sales of its Prius hybrid to surge 83 percent to 15,000 units in Europe in 2005.

The world's second-biggest automaker revised its 2004 European sales target to 8,200 Prius units, from an earlier forecast of 5,000, said Takis Athanasopoulos, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Europe, speaking to reporters in Paris.

The Prius, which debuted in 1997 in Japan, is one of Toyota's fastest-selling models. Demand in Europe has extended waiting times for buyers to as long as six months, said Thierry Dombreval, executive vice president for Toyota Motor Marketing Europe. Six- month U.S. waiting lists prompted Toyota to raise the Prius price by 2.9 percent for 2005 models that went on sale Sept. 15.

Global sales of the Prius may rise 71 percent this year to 130,000 cars, Toyota said in June. Toyota plans to increase Prius production capacity to 15,000 per month, or 180,000 per year, from the current 10,000, starting in the first half of 2005, to meet increased worldwide demand.

In Europe, Toyota sold 4,872 Prius in the first eight months of 2004, equal to 98 percent of its initial annual sales objective of 5,000, Athanasoupolous said.

Toyota revised up its 2004 overall sales target in Europe to ``over 900,000 units'' from 860,000 units, up from 835,000 units in 2003.

Production in China

The Japanese automaker, seeking to raise its share of China's automobile market to 10 percent by 2010, from 3 percent now, last week said it will begin assembling Prius hybrids at a plant in the northeastern city of Changchun with China's FAW Group.

This will be Toyota's first overseas production of gasoline- electric cars, and the automaker may license engine technology enabling FAW to make its own hybrids. Toyota has said it may also produce hybrids in North America to help meet demand there.

Toyota shares rose 0.2 percent to 4,190 yen on the Tokyo exchange yesterday.

The Prius emits 90 percent less tailpipe exhaust than the average new car with a same-size engine, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Its hybrid drive system uses both electric and gasoline motors. The electric motor powers the vehicle at low speeds, with the gasoline engine taking over as the car gains speed. The car's battery pack is recharged using the conventional gasoline engine and by the brakes.

``Because of all the environmentally friendly reasons, people in Europe are acknowledging the significance of hybrid vehicles,'' said Executive Vice President Akihiko Saito. ``We will strengthen our line up of diesels in Europe, but hybrid will be another push.''

More than 40 percent of the 15 million vehicles sold annually in Europe have diesel engines. Toyota had 5.1 percent of the West European market in the first eight months of the year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kae Inoue in Paris at kinoue@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 22, 2004 21:12 EDT