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Can the hybrid king make money?

So far this year, the Toyota Prius accounts for 47.5 percent of all hybrid vehicle sales. The next closet competitor, the Toyota Camry hybrid, comes in at 8.3 percent.

Still, is the Prius profitable, wonders a recent Investors Business Daily piece?

With strong sales and 2,092 patents, many analysts predicted that the third generation Prius would be very profitable. Of course, that was before pricing on the Honda Insight, currently the third best selling hybrid at 7.2 percent share, forced Toyota to lower Prius pricing to just $400 more than the second generation Prius.

However, even if the Prius and Toyota’s hybrid cars are not as profitable as expected just yet, many analysts see profits just around the corner thanks to Toyota’s “compulsive patenting”, 12 years of battery R&D and its controlling share of Panasonic EV Energy, Toyota’s main battery provider.