Posted on Friday 9 May 2008
Toyota is looking to take advantage of the green image its Prius petrol-electric hybrid vehicle enjoys by building upon the ‘Prius’ name and launching a new family of eco-friendly vehicles under it. Japanese execs have mentioned in the past that such an idea was under consideration and latest reports confirm the next-generation Prius, due to be unveiled at next year’s Detroit Auto Show, will come in several different flavors.
There is likely to be two different Prius body styles, a smaller MPV version and a larger sedan, with each available in budget and high-end luxury trims. The larger model will follow the styling of the Hybrid X (pictured) displayed at last year’s Geneva Motor Show, while the smaller model will adopt the lines of the rear-engined 1/X concept from last year’s Tokyo event.
The extra hybrid models also mean extra production volumes, and according to the Nikkei Toyota will boost production of its hybrid vehicles by about 60%.
The line-up will also address one of the current car’s major pitfalls – its lacklustre fuel-economy. Bigger engines and lighter bodies are planned for the new models, and although Toyota won’t be adopting advanced lithium-ion battery technology the new Prius models should offer much better fuel-economy and cleaner emissions than the current car. In 2010, Toyota also hopes to have the first plug-in hybrid vehicle on the market.
I would just call them Hybrids, I think they should leave the Prius name for the Prius. They already had a marketing coup with that, and they should stick with it…
I don’t know… i think I like the idea of turning it into a “brand” of sorts. I liken it to the “variants” that we see today. The focus is available in 2 door coupe cabrio, 3,4,and 5 door variants. there’s a high performance model and there’s several “green” variants as well. in a way, the Focus is it’s own brand. maybe a little easier to see is “Mercury”. it has been a long time since mercury had its own unique vehicle (even the cougar has been a reworked mustang and mondeo), but we still call them a “brand”.
If toyota were to make a “hybrid platform” from which they derived the camry hybrid, the prius MPV, and the prius coupe, no one would have a problem with the designation “platform”. I think you’ll see these vehicles sold as Toyota Prius _________… and then in a future generation they may opt to drop the “Toyota”.
I mean,… gus… after all,.. the mustang has never said “Ford” on the exterior. the Corvette has never flown the bow tie…… these are examples of “mini brands”… they may be onto something here.
Sure the Mustang had a Ford logo on it (my 2000 GT vert) but now it’s gone on the new one.
But my point is that even though there are numerous models of the Focus, it’s still the same car.
But I’m no marketing guru either, I’m sure some clever people in Japan have thought this through long and hard.
Toyota already has Lexus and The Lexus brand and Scion. I almost forgot they own Daihatsu so they have already created two new successfull brands thast work well, why not a third. What would be good is if they integrated the hybrid technology into all they’re cars eventually.
I’ll be glad to have a car that I can at least plug in to have a charge for 20 miles so I can go to work and back when gasoline is 20 bucks a gallon lol. I could pick and choose when to go for gasoline and maybe just fill up for long trips. I’ve got a plug at home in the garage, so it would be more convenient. I like the sound of this plug-in hybrid idea.
I love the idea of a plug-in Hybrid, but I have no access to a plug. So many people here in Los Angeles probably don’t either, I’m not sure how well this will work for a while…