Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Japan,
Toyota, Rumormill
2010
Toyota Prius - Click above for a high-res gallery
According to the ever-flowing and always active rumormill,
Toyota may be working on a new low-cost hybrid to do battle with the revived Honda Insight, which is a bit smaller than its rival from
Toyota and undercuts its price by a few thousand dollars (or a few million yen). Likely due in no small part to its low point of entry, Honda managed to move 18,000 Insight hybrids in Japan in its first month on sale, which is well above the automaker's early projections.
The new hybrid from
Toyota would use similar hybrid components as the Prius but would use a smaller engine and cost 20-30% less. Even if these rumors are true,
Toyota still plans to continue selling its previous-generation Prius in Japan for at least the 2010 model year alongside the new model, which features better performance from an enlarged 1.8-liter engine while still managing to reduce fuel consumption. So far, there's no indication that
Toyota will sell a lower-cost hybrid model in the U.S.
Gallery: 2010
Toyota Prius
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
Toyota to offer cheaper Prius to compete with Honda Insight originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
