The Toyota Prius has always seemed like a given. It’s just always there. But the vehicle, once seen as the safe option, is actually seeing a decline in sales in 2026.

In the first three months of 2026, Toyota sold 9,737 units of its often-memed OG hybrid. This is 41.5% fewer than it sold at the beginning of 2025, when it sold 16,653. This seems quite shocking when you first hear it. The Prius is sort of like Call of Duty. Everyone complains about it. There are cooler shooters out there. But people still seem to buy it and play it anyway. It’s a game that’s just always been there. The Prius is just a mainstay in the hybrid space.

But that could be changing.

The Toyota Prius has been around since 1997 (in Japan; it came to North America in 2000). It was the world’s first mass-produced hybrid car, featuring a 1.5-liter gasoline engine and an electric motor. It’s never been considered cool or anything, but the Prius essentially represents that mainstream shift to electric. While it’s often seen as the boring and safe choice, it actually started a movement and pushed boundaries.

But now, as electric vehicles flood the market — despite Americans becoming bored with the whole thing now that there’s no tax incentive — the Prius seems to be getting a bit lost. Maybe it’s something that people just took for granted. We just always thought the Prius would be there. That someone weird out there would be buying it.

Apparently, they’re not.

“We saw demand shift toward Camry, largely because of its strong fuel economy,” Derrick Brown of Toyota Motor North America told The Drive. “Fortunately, Camry and Prius share some components, which gave us the flexibility to scale back Prius production and increase Camry production. We’re always working to match production as closely as possible to what customers want, and in this case, we were able to adjust quickly.” 

Yeah, no lies told. The Camry has seen sales increase, with 78,255 sold in the first three months of 2026, compared to 70,308 during the same period last year. The Camry went hybrid recently, making it a bit of an upsell from the Prius due to its redesigned appearance and more powerful engine.

With the Camry seeing such a huge sales increase and the Prius’ sales dropping so low, this could truly be the end for the once-popular mainstay. The Camry is made in Kentucky, while the Prius is made in Japan, adding to Toyota’s massive tariff bill each year. Toyota was among the most affected carmakers last year, with the Trump Administration’s tariffs costing the company $9.1 billion. It would make a lot of economic sense for Toyota to shift to the Camry and stop selling the Prius in the United States, especially with the future of tariffs being so unclear.

The Toyota Prius has improved over the years. The latest generation even had people asking who hurt Toyota. But it does seem like it could all be too late to save the hybrid. The car community believes the Prius could be doomed thanks to rising prices, Camry cannibalizing sales, and a lack of convenience compared to larger hybrid options. A lot of drivers have noted that the Prius just isn’t widely available right now. “There are fewer than 25 new Priuses in a 200-mile radius of me in Arizona. Only 1 LE model and it’s in transit,” said one enthusiast on Reddit. Even though the Prius is one of the most fuel-efficient hybrids out there, it doesn’t seem like anyone wants to drive the extra few hours to get one as interest in EVs dwindle.

It seems crazy to think that we may not see a new Prius in America in the next few years. But it’s definitely a possibility.