Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Hybrids/Alternative, Sedans/Saloons, Toyota
No, really: Toyota won't create seperate Prius brand
The idea of a separate brand for the Toyota Prius has gone from "seriously considering" to "not a 'go'" to, now, "Um, no." That's the word from Miguel Fonseca, Toyota's managing director in the UK, who says that there won't be a Prius sub-brand.
However, Fonseca did say that the stork would be visiting the Prius factory to drop off other body styles, making a Prius family of vehicles. He wouldn't say what the body types were, but AutoCar speculation centers on an estate and an MPV to be unveiled in 2010, along with a coupe debuting the following year. As reported before, when the larger, frugal-er next gen Prius sedan arrives in about a year, it won't be packing lithium-ion batteries -- Toyota engineers say they're still not yet ready for prime-time.
[Source: AutoCar]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rich 6:21PM (11/26/2008)
"larger"? Seriously?
Some people just don't get it.
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apearlman 10:58PM (11/26/2008)
Larger seems like a good idea to me. Today's Prius is a half-size too small for my family + luggage. So I'd be delighted to see this car grow, particularly wider.
From what I've heard (here), Honda's new Insight will be a bit smaller than the Prius. So we'll soon find out whether buyers want their hybrids in size Small or Medium.
Samurai Jack 6:30PM (11/26/2008)
Regarding those lithium-ion batteries. Toyota is right. Especially if they plan to use Sony as their supplier. Holy flaming laptops Batman!
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robotrock 7:15PM (11/26/2008)
You misspelt "separate" the first go-round.
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happy_penguin 7:29PM (11/26/2008)
You misspelt misspelled.
The Luigiian 7:32PM (11/26/2008)
Not in England he didn't.
Or, I believe, Canada.
happy_penguin 8:05PM (11/26/2008)
Like I've said before, damn Brits don't know no proper grammar.
Mobius_1 9:52PM (11/26/2008)
Of course, English people didn't create English, Americans did. :P
happy_penguin 11:23AM (11/27/2008)
Yup. But youda thunk by now them there Brits would know a thing or two but no matter how much we be learnin' them they doesn't learn nuttin!
tekd 3:53AM (11/28/2008)
Misspelt is valid even in American English, although misspelled is much more commonly used in the US.
If you really want to be picky about it, spelling color as colour is still a valid spelling even in the United States-it's just much (much much) less preferred.
But you would be wrong if you said colour was an incorrect spelling. And anyways, since this is the internet there isn't really a preferred English spelling so you can use anything you want =p
The Luigiian 7:39PM (11/26/2008)
"...an MPV to be unveiled in 2010..."
As if the Prius doesn't look enough like an ugly minivan as it is...
I was hoping for a second that by "multi-purpose vehicle" they might mean "purposeful pickup", and by "pickup" they might mean "A-BAT", but no. After reading Wikipedia, I guess MPV is a term used for minivans only. Oh well, wait a couple more years, yadda yadda yadda. I won't be buying for a couple years, so take your time Toyota. Make sure it's not ugly when you release it if you please.
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Conundrum 9:08PM (11/26/2008)
@ The Luigi...
An MPV although not the most exciting body style is a great match to the efficiency of a Prius type vehicle. Six to seven passengers at 50 MPG in the city. WOW.
Not to mention that the Mazda-5 and Opel Zafira are not the ugliest vehicles on the road and they are MPVs.
The Luigiian 9:10PM (11/26/2008)
I don't think minivans are all ugly, I like the Mazda 5 a great deal and if the A-BAT gets the axe this would be my idea of a great car. But the Prius... er... already looks like a squashed and stretched minivan, just a mighty ugly one.
I hope that the MPV they make looks better. It would be awesome if it looked like the 5.
Chidfreegearhead 10:44PM (11/26/2008)
TOYOTA OUT OF NORTH AMERICA NOW!!
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Mobius_1 12:18PM (11/27/2008)
You off Autoblog now!
Jon 5:33AM (11/27/2008)
Exactly. why would Toyota do that id they ultimately aim to make all of their cars hybrid?
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kballs 12:44PM (11/27/2008)
So they won't create a new Prius _brand_ but they will create new Prius _models_... not a big difference other than the names will be longer... "Toyota Prius MPV" instead of "Prius MPV", they won't have to create new dealerships, and they won't divorce the Prius from Toyota (which could make regular Toyota cars look less green and lower its CAFE ratings).
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toronado455 12:27AM (11/29/2008)
I've always thought the idea of creating a separate Prius brand was a bit silly. If they can make a "Camry Solara", and a "Corolla Matrix", then they can make a "Prius [MPV/Wagon/whatever]". (The Venza should really be called "Camry Venza".)
And when the leaked photos of the new Prius appeared with the big, corporate Toyota emblem bulge above the grill (ala Camry), that didn't seem to fit in with the idea that they were trying to create a distinct brand image for the Prius separate from Toyota.
And, as mentioned above, keeping the "Toyota" name on the Prius helps to green-up the Toyota name.
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