Toyota Prius Launched, A Flashbang On The Move

One of the things that attracted buyers to the first three generations of Prius was its unique styling. This fourth generation of the immensely popular hybrid aims to increase sales and keep competitors at bay.

Toyota is again boosting the fuel economy of the Prius, but the 2016 hybrid also is longer, lower, wider and a little more mainstream in appearance. This did not happen by coincidence as Toyota claims that the Mirai and Prius are real siblings.

“Prius set the global benchmark for hybrids, but now is breaking its own boundaries with a more engaging style”, said Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager of Toyota Division.

Pricing and availability have yet to be announced, but we’re interested to see what you think of Toyota’s latest Prius hybrid.

Beyond that new platform, Toyota is remaining tight-lipped about the new Prius’s running gear and numbers.

For better or worse, there’s no denying that the Toyota Prius has caused a seismic shift in the motoring landscape.

But at the presentation to around 350 journalists yesterday evening, Toyota executives were keen to emphasize that the 2016 Prius isn’t just a fuel-efficient vehicle.

The Japanese carmaker says the 2016 Prius is fun to drive because of the lowered center of gravity, stiffer chassis, and rear double wishbone suspension.

In all, Toyota boasts that it’s expecting a ten-percent improvement in EPA estimates over the outgoing model. The battery pack also has been redesigned for enhanced efficiency and promises an all-electric range of 35 miles, far better than the previous model’s 11 mile range. It is popping up on so many cars these days; we found a couple others at the 2015 New York Auto Show. Due to roll out across the Toyota range in coming years, the 2016 Prius is the first of Toyota’s 2016 model cars to get the package as standard.

The new Prius has a host of safety equipment which include systems like lane departure alert, pre-collision system, dynamic radar cruise control, automatic high beam and the Europe-exclusive road sign assist.

The launch timing is unfortunate for Toyota, which had been planning the new Prius for several years and didn’t know that gas prices would be so low at this time, Libby said.