Toyota Prius Family Will Continue Growing, Exec Says
Toyota worked hard to bring the Prius nameplate from obscurity to common parlance, whether its loved by save-the-planet tree huggers or hated by gas-wasting macho men, few can feign ignorance to the world’s most iconic hybrid.
“With the four cars, you’re seeing the entire Prius family short-term. For the long term, we continue to evaluate it. I certainly have things that I’d love to see evolve,” Toyota divisions group vice president and general manager, Bob Carter said.
With the advent of the Prius V and Prius C, it’s clear that Toyota wants to expand the Prius offerings for broader appeal. Toyota even teased the idea of a Prius light truck.
“So, no, you’re not going to see us put a hybrid in a truck if it doesn’t meet that. I would never support anything with a Prius badge that is sub-40 mpg (5.9 L/100 km). We’re not going to put a hybrid in the Tundra (fullsize-pickup truck) and call it the Prius Tundra,” said Carter.
Toyota is expecting 220,000 Prius deliveries this year in the U.S., with the V and C projected to make up 15-20 percent of that number. Toyota has a major goal set for themselves of having every model in the U.S. lineup sporting a hybrid variant by 2020, and with this in mind, the Prius family looks like it’s set to keep growing.
[Source: Ward’s Auto]
Read AutoGuide’s Toyota Prius c Review here or watch below for our video review:
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Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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