• a1
• a2
• a3
• a4
• a5
• a6

• Home
• Build & Price
• News & Reviews
• Dealer Ratings
• See What Others Paid
• About Us

Toyota Prius v News & Reviews

   Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid Makes North American Debut

Toyota's 2010 Prius Plug-in Hybrid made its North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show

The new battery technology in the Prius Plug-in provides significant improvements in range and performance. (Photo: Toyota)

earlier this week, as the Japanese carmaker prepares to roll out 350 test vehicles into the North American, Japanese and European markets.

Beginning early next year Toyota plans to bring 150 vehicles into the United States. These initial vehicles will be placed with handpicked customers in select regions in order to garner market analysis, consumer feedback, and to also provide early marketing of the technology.

"This program is a necessary first step in societal preparation, in that it allows us the unique opportunity to inform, educate and prepare customers for the introduction of plug-in hybrid technology," said Irv Miller, Toyota Motor Sales group vice president, environmental and public affairs. "When these vehicles <Read More>

   Toyota Shows New Plug-in Prius at Frankfurt Auto Show

   2010 Toyota Prius Road Test Review

It's true. You get what you pay for, and when it comes to Toyota's Prius it's long offered a premium-like, high-quality experience

World's best selling hybrid is not only clean and fuel efficient, the Prius is a good car too. (Photo: Canadian Auto Press)

in a convenient, commodious package. The icing on the cake is that it keeps getting better and better, but oddly costs less and less with each new iteration. Indeed, it appears you certainly get what you pay for with Prius.

Case in point, I just got out of a certain lookalike Japanese rival and climbed into Toyota's Prius, and while the upstart mimics the world's best-selling hybrid in profile it really doesn't come close in any other way. Where the Prius is finished off beautifully inside with nicely textured albeit not soft-touch plastics, superb switchgear, upscale features and midsize interior dimensions, the new wannabe is smaller, makes do with cheap-feeling hard plastics, offers an audio nav system in top-tier trim that looks like an aftermarket add-on, and doesn't drive nearly as well.

I don't <Read More>

Although car sales are in the dumper for the most part, there are some brands doing better than others and more so, some

Toyota's new 2010 Prius is so popular it's enjoying waiting lists. (Photo: Toyota)

models doing extremely well, and it doesn't seem to have much to do with fuel economy. After all, Chevy's new Camaro, while thrifty at the pump compared to its muscle car competitors is nevertheless no hybrid, while Honda's Insight, one of the stingiest fuel misers on the market is not going to achieve its targeted sales.

To add insult to injury, Toyota's new Prius appears to be walking away with the majority of hybrid buyers, once again. Prior to the 2010 redesign it already enjoyed 72.4% of global hybrid sales, and now it seems that many of these owners want the latest, greatest version right away, which is keeping the model's production plants in Japan humming along 24 hours per day and causing waiting lists to form (several months in Japan), according to a story in The New York Times (NYT).

Toyota workers in Prius plants are happy because they're getting overtime in an economy that has been shutting manufacturing facilities down or at least slowing production in recent months, the Japanese brand even having to source employees from other areas in order to meet capacity demands. The Prius' battery pack supplier, Panasonic, is also working its staff overtime in order to keep up with orders.

While <Read More>

   Toyota Already Books 75,000 Preorders for 2010 Prius

   Toyota Prius U.S. Production Canceled

The financial crisis currently shaking our global economy has made Japanese manufacturer Toyota change its mind about

A new model may not be enough to rally Prius sales to previous levels. (Photo: Toyota)

plans to build its popular Prius hybrid model in the US. The plan would have required an investment of 1.3 billion US dollars, which wouldn't be a fiscally responsible move for the world's number one automaker given the economic realities of the day.

The plant, near Tupelo, Mississippi, which is Toyota's eighth North American assembly facility in the US, was slated to produce Prius hybrids beginning in late 2010. After months of negativity in the market, Toyota's sales volumes are down and it has had to revise its fiscal year-end projections, like so many other automakers.

So far Toyota has invested approximately $300 million US in the Mississippi plant's projected $1.3-billion overall startup cost. The Japanese automaker will finish building the structure, which is now about 90-percent complete, but it won't install the pricy machinery needed to build cars, such as metal-stamping machines and robotics equipment.

So <Read More>

   New c Concept takes Prius brand down-market

Toyota has made leaps and bounds in hybrid progress since the first Prius launched over a decade ago, making the current Prius

Big future seller? A smaller, thriftier, cheaper Prius? You bet! (Photo: Toyota)

one of the most fuel-efficient cars on the road today. It therefore only makes sense that a smaller, lighter version housing all of the technological upgrades that the current car now incorporates would simultaneously reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions over its larger sibling. Enter the new Prius c Concept, a true compact model bearing Toyota's iconic hybrid nameplate. But isn't the Prius already a compact?

When the Prius first arrived on the scene the EPA dubbed it compact, and so it was. The second-generation Prius grew in size and functionality and therefore received a mid-size designation, despite many still considering it compact compared to other mid-size models including Toyota's own Camry.

There will be <Read More>

   Toyota predicts Prius will be top-selling nameplate by 2020

What would it take for Toyota buyers in the U.S. to switch from a Camry to a Prius? Higher fuel prices and a desire to remain

Prius continues to be the top-selling hybrid prompting Toyota to predict that it will overtake Camry and all others within 10 years. (Photo: Toyota)

in a car that offers midsize roominess.

Camry is Toyota's number one seller in the U.S. with the Corolla a close second, but according to the Bloomberg news service Toyota is not only predicting that its Prius will take the top-spot away from Camry by 2020, but that its Prius nameplate will be number one amongst all competitors too.

"We will end the decade with Prius being the number one nameplate in the industry," said Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president for U.S. sales, to Bloomberg and other analysts via conference call on Monday. The Camry "will be a close second, and that's not because there will be a drop in Camry sales," he added.

Whether Carter <Read More>

   2011 Toyota Tundra 4x4 Double Cab Road Test Review

After more than a decade on the market and now four years into the second-generation model, the Toyota Tundra has evolved

The Tundra Double Cab looks right at home at this construction site. (Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press)

from being a challenger to an established competitor in the full-size North American truck market. And while sales were well off in 2009 largely due to the shaky economy and much-publicized recalls over unintended acceleration and frame rust, the fact of the matter is that the Tundra remains a damn good truck. Happily for Toyota, it seems consumers are once again starting to realize this, with October 2010 Tundra 4x4 sales up 12.1 percent over the same month last year here in Canada, and 2010 year-over-year sales figures that showed a gain of 28.5 percent as of July in the U.S. - an increase that's twice as good as the industry average.

Designed and engineered in the U.S. and built in San Antonio, Texas, the Tundra can hardly be called an import competitor - from a North American point of view, it's an import-brand domestic truck. Like its domestic-brand brethren, the Tundra is available in a wide variety of configurations. There are three cab styles - Regular Cab, <Read More>

   Toyota Highlander gets updated styling for 2011

Unlike most mid-cycle updates at Toyota that seem like mild makeovers, the differences between the old 2008 through

The new 2011 Highlander is here and it's one thorough mid-cycle upgrade! (Photo: Toyota)

2010 Highlander and new 2011 model are much more thorough. It should be noted that the outgoing model was hardly lacking in styling points, so such significant modifications to trim, lighting, sheet metal and the interior for 2011 show a big departure from past procedures.

The exterior updates include a new grille, headlights, front fascia, hood, and fenders up front, plus a new rear bumper, spoiler and updated combination taillights out back, as well as new alloy wheels all-round. A unique grille and front bumper are added to the Highlander Hybrid, giving it a new sportier look.

Inside, all Highlanders receive updated instrument panels, gauge clusters and interior detailing.

"Known for their versatility, the 2011 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid models come with even more standard features including 3rd row seating, making room for <Read More>