Toyota to launch hybrid Prius early next year

Toyota said on Wednesday it will launch its hybrid car Prius in India early next year.

"We will be introducing our hybrid car (in India) sometime in the beginning of next year and it will be Prius," Toyota Motor Corporation vice-chairman Kazuo Okamoto told a group of visiting Indian journalists in Tokyo.

He, however, said there are no plans yet to bring in a hybrid small car. Toyota is planning to launch a small car in the Indian market in 2011.

"We are not at all thinking about a hybrid small car right now. However, in future it is possible but nothing has been decided," Okamoto said.

Prius is the highest selling hybrid model of TMC with a cumulative global sale of over 1.4 million units since 2000.

The company had first ventured into hybrid vehicle segment in 1997 and in August this year surpassed the two million mark in overall global sales.

TMC's project general manager (research and development management division) Yutaka Matsumoto had earlier said the company is working on a number of models including bio-fuel, natural gas and hydrogen vehicles as part of its global strategy to grow in the alternative technology market.

The company would soon start leasing about 500 units of Prius with lithium-ion battery in Japan, US and the European Union countries.

"Pricing is very important. Toyota is looking very positively with this small car to mark a strong presence in the country," Noritake said.

In order to reduce cost of production, he said the company is looking at sharing components from other models with the proposed compact car.

"It is very important to reduce the cost. Commonalisation of components of various models is helpful and now we are assessing this aspect," he said, adding a major portion of the components will be sourced locally.

"But we are also considering to supply parts from the ASEAN countries such as Thailand and Indonesia to bring down the cost of the car," he said.

The company is planning to launch both the hatchback and sedan versions of the car. The base model of the car will also have options to select various high-end safety features like ABS (anti braking system).

"We are also trying to make a diesel engine of the small car but nothing has been confirmed yet," said Noritake, who is also the main architect of the small car.