Toyota has decided to build some anticipation about its upcoming Prius MPV [the name has not yet been announced] hybrid, before the big reveal at the Detroit motor show in January 2010, by launching a series of teasers in the form of puzzle pieces. The puzzle theme appears to be central to the Prius MPV campaign as it was also used in the billboard that showed the hybrid minivan hiding behind the normal Prius liftback.
Not that we expect the actual production version of the upcoming 2011 Toyota Prius MPV (or whatever else the Japanese maker names the hybrid minivan) to look any more exciting than the vehicle shown in the black-and-white picture above, but just to set things straight, what you see here is an older photoshop created by Japan's Best Car magazine and not the real deal as some hastily baptized. Proof seekers may follow the jump for color shots from the magazine.
We'll just remind you that Toyota has confirmed that the world premiere of the Prius minivan will take place at the 2011 Detroit motor show in mid-January, with sales to follow either towards the end of the same year or in early 2012.
Marking the 10 years since the launch of the Prius onto the UK market, Toyota has released a special 10th Anniversary edition of its hybrid model. Said to be the most exclusive production Prius to date since only 1,000 examples are to be built, the"Prius 10th Anniversary" is offered with a choice of two paint finishes - White Pearl or Astral Black- and an on-the-road price of £26,150, with first customer deliveries to commence this winter.
The new front, rear and side skirts, 17-inch smoked-finish alloys and dark-tinted privacy glass plus the black leather upholstery embossed with the 10th anniversary logo, complete the list of upgrades over the standard top-of-the-range T Spirit model upon which it is based.
As with the T Spirit model, standard features include HDD satellite navigation (with integrated sound library), rear parking monitor, Bluetooth, Intelligent Park Assist, cruise control, smart entry and start, rain-sensing wipers and head-up display.Update: Toyota UK informed us that the special edition's name is "Prius 10th Anniversary" and not "Prius Generation X" as the company noted in the original press release. Corrections have been made on the title and article.
Toyota today revealed it will begin manufacturing its Prius hybrid in Thailand starting from November. The car will be built at the firm's Gateway Plant, near the Thai capital Bangkok, where it also makes the Corolla, Camry, Camry Hybrid and other models. Thailand will be the third country to make Toyota's popular hybrid after Japan and China.
The company said the decision was made as part of its effort to further popularize hybrid vehicles worldwide.
Toyota Motor Thailand Co. President Kyoichi Tanada commented: "With its excellent environmental performance, design and advanced technologies, we hope the Prius provides even more people in Thailand with the joys of driving."
Toyota did not reveal how many Prius vehicles will be built at the Thai plant, but a company spokesman said production is for the local market.
Launched in 1997, the Prius hybrids cumulative global sales surpassed the 2 million mark at the end of September this year. Toyota said it aims to sell 1 million hybrid vehicles or more annually before the end of the decade.
With a simple tweet on its Twitter page that said "Next member of the #Prius family (to be revealed at Detroit Auto Show) will be all-new model w/ more comfort, style and versatility", Toyota announced that the world premier of its highly anticipated Prius Minivan will take place at the forthcoming Detroit motor show in the second week of January, 2011.
The as-of-yet unnamed minivan will be the second Prius-badged hybrid in Toyota's range, while the company has already revealed plans to extend the Prius family with a third model that will be smaller than the current five-door liftback. Both the smaller and larger Prius-branded hybrid-electric vehicles are scheduled to go on sale in the States by 2013.
The Japanese firm recently teased the Prius minivan with a billboard picture located in Malibu, California. Now, we also have a video from the making of the billboard that you can check out below.
According to a Carscoop eye-witness that snagged a camouflaged prototype of the car in California a couple of weeks ago, the forthcoming hybrid minivan is roughly the same size as the Mazda5 MPV.
We'll keep you updated on any new developments as and when they happen.
It came from San Francisco Bay. A hybrid killing driving machine with a singular purpose: to destroy mankind to further the cause of safe motoring. A Toyota Prius infused with advanced technology that allows it to kill without remorse drive itself and created by the Devil himself Google! Pardoning that brief flight of fancy, here's the real scoop:
Google is working on an automated / driverless car with the help of DARPA Challenge luminaries Chris Urmson and Anthony Levandowski. Mr. Urmson was the technical team leader on CMU's 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge winning entry, whilst Mr. Levandowski built the world's first autonomous motorcycle for the DARPA Grand Challenge as well as an automated pizza delivery vehicle.
Though still in the experimental stages of development, Google's test vehicles have covered 140,000 miles (225,300 km). Their unpiloted yet still manned Priora (that's the plural of Prius, dontchaknow) have travelled from their Mountain View campus to their Santa Monica office and onto Hollywood Boulevard, down Lombard Street, across the Golden Gate Bridge, along the Pacific Coast Highway and all the way around Lake Tahoe (albeit, not in a single journey).
Here's how it works:
First a human operator takes a conventional car out and maps the route and road conditions, including lane markers and traffic signs. The local police are then briefed on the expected route just in case.
Then the automated car (always a Toyota Prius in the pictures we've seen) hits the road, piloted by a trained safety driver and software operator who monitor the car's progress and can take over at a moment's notice. The automated vehicles are fitted with video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder, all of which helps the car to "see" the road ahead, other vehicles and any obstacles in its path. All in all, a very clever bit of engineering.
Google hopes that the technology can be used in the future to reduce road traffic accidents. The automated vehicles are part of what the company calls their "highway trains of tomorrow"; automated vehicles that obey the road rules, can never drive intoxicated and will always keep a safe distance behind the vehicle in front. All in all, a very bright future for A to B motoring.
Just before the grand opening of the Paris Motor Show at the end of September, we brought you the first spy pictures of the Prius minivan (or MPV), which was snagged in California by Carscoop reader Nick K.
Since then, Toyota not only confirmed the car at a dealer conference in Las Vegas last week, but the Japanese automaker also put up this billboard that shows the Prius MPV hiding behind the current Prius liftback with the tagline "The Prius family is getting a whole lot bigger." The billboard picture was uploaded on the company's dedicated Toyota Prius Facebook page.
According to Autonews, Toyota execs told dealers at the Las Vegas conference that the minivan version of the Prius will be joined by a smaller Prius-badged hybrid model, with both cars scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. by 2013.
The report added that within the next 18 months, Toyota / Scion dealers will also see a redesigned Camry, the Scion iQ minicar and the production version of the FT-86 rear-wheel drive sports car making their way into showrooms.
Carscoop reader Nick K. had an opportunity to snag what may very well be the first spy photos of the long-anticipated minivan version of the Prius, rumored to be called the Prius Alpha.
Spotted out in California following a new Lexus CT200h with its logos covered, the camouflaged minivan seen here - said by Nick to be "about the size of a Mazda 5" - appears to be wearing a Prius-esque front fascia and doesn't look to fit anywhere else in the lineup.
As you can see in our photo gallery after the jump, the minivan and the Prius also seem to share a similar design for the windshield, front window line and tail lamps.
If earlier reports from Reuters and Japan's Nikkei daily are correct, the Prius MPV will end up housing three rows of seats with space for up to seven passengers and be powered by in-house developed lithium-ion batteries (which may later be manufactured with help from Panasonic).
As we recently told you, Toyota Executive VP Takeshi Uchiyamada hopes to launch six new hybrids worldwide by 2012 (two Lexi and four Toyotas) on top of its current hybrid offerings. That means the Lexus hybrid family - LS, GS, HS, and RX - will likely gain another crossover of some sort and probably an IS hybrid.
Toyota - currently at three hybrids in the U.S. with the Prius, Camry, and Highlander - will likely get at least one more variant of the Prius, as well as three other models. Speculation on those is up to you all.
Toyota has decided to build some anticipation about its upcoming Prius MPV [the name has not yet been announced] hybrid, before the big reveal at the Detroit motor show in January 2010, by launching a series of teasers in the form of puzzle pieces. The puzzle theme appears to be central to the Prius MPV campaign as it was also used in the billboard that showed the hybrid minivan hiding behind the normal Prius liftback.
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