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Toyota’s Newest Brand – Prius
The Toyota Prius has been one of Toyota’s popular models and is one of the most sought cars when it comes to hybrid vehicles. Recently, Toyota announced that it was going to make Prius into a brand. They will be releasing a line of hybrid-only cars with their own designs. None of the cars will be hybrid versions of Toyota’s other cars such as the Camry and Corolla.
Many analysts are saying that Toyota has made this move to compete with Honda and Ford. In addition to these companies releasing hybrid cars of their own, companies like Nissan and Chevrolet are coming out with pure electric cars which are already generating a lot of hype in both consumers and in the car industry.
In addition, Toyota sees the hybrid cars as a great market to expand on. The Toyota Prius makes up 75% of all the hybrid cars sold in the US. The US has a strong market for hybrid cars so they will focus the brand in the country until there is a huge demand elsewhere. Rather than sell the Prius line under separate dealerships such as the Lexus, these cars will be sold in Toyota dealerships.
Previously, Toyota’s hybrid cars used an electric generator in addition to gasoline in order to extend the miles per gallon. It has been known as one of the most economically friendly cars both environmentally and financially. This time around, the company is releasing a plug-in version that can connect to any regular electric wall socket. These cars will be able to drive a short distance without using any gasoline, making it perfect for those quick trips to the grocery.
Toyota is relying on hybrid cars because electric cars rely on very expensive batteries. Because of that reason, Toyota sees electric cars fulfilling a niche demand rather than being a new generation of cars that will completely replace their old counterparts. Toyota is predicting that hybrid vehicles will steadily get more popular and become mainstream.
The new Prius cars under the new brand will be bigger than the former version. It is predicted that the car will be a 5-door body style. It will run on a 2.5 liter, four cylinder motor and the pricing is estimated to begin at $28,000. They are also redesigning the Yaris into a 4-door sedan, hoping it will be a smaller version of the Prius, due in 2011.
While other major car manufacturers are focusing on a new electric plugin car market, Toyota seems to be expanding on their success with the Prius. The new models are planning to launch sometime in 2011 and towards 2012 to compete with the major releases of Nissan and Chevrolet. It will be quite interesting how the new Prius line will look and be accepted.
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