Toyota will reveal the successor to its veteran hybrid, the Prius, next week on November 16 with a chance the new model will be a plug-in hybrid.
Both Toyota’s pioneering role in the push for hybrid drivetrains as well as the brand’s hesitancy to move to fully electric cars suggest the brand will sooner embrace PHEVs than BEVs.
Toyota Japan’s social media accounts posted the teaser images, both the stylised car sections and the silhouette with the ‘16/11/22’ reveal date, alongside the phrase ‘hybrid reborn’.
It comes after a number of clues led us to suspect a new Toyota Prius is on the way, including a teaser Toyota released after the reveal of the China-only bZ3, as well as a render created by on-the-ball Japanese outlet Best Car.
The render, published last month, uses headlights that line up almost perfectly with the teaser image posted by Toyota, as well as the bZ3.
In addition, a test mule with very Prius-like features and dimensions was seen testing in Toyota City very recently, seen by Japanese blog Car Moby, in left-hand drive.
The other possibility is that it’s related to the aforementioned Toyota bZ3 for China, which could link to the teaser from its reveal, though the bZ3 being a fully electric car suggests a Prius successor would be linked to the Chinese model in design language only.
The successor to the Prius is also being referred to as such because it may not bear the same nameplate.
A report from Motorsport.com includes quotes from Super GT series Apr team boss Hiroto Kaneso revealing a new hybrid model is on the way from the brand.
“Toyota wants us to keep [the exact model] a secret for now, but development is ongoing,” Kaneso told Motorsport.com. “What I can say is that it is a Toyota, with hybrid power.
“Because of the way the regulations are, we’re not going to do the same thing again. It’s not a GR86, not a Supra, not a Prius, it will be something brand new, something that will be fun to look at, like, ‘wow, look at that!’”
Locally, Toyota Australia has been expecting to see the Prius badge carry on for some time as of recently.
Speaking to CarsGuide earlier this year, Toyota Australia vice-president of sales and marketing Sean Hanley said the badge isn’t done for in Australia, despite current-gen sales having been discontinued mid-year.
“We are rationalising the model line-up of Prius, but we’re not going to drop the nameplate,” Mr Hanley said.
“It will continue, and it very well could be the car that we look at for a plug-in hybrid in the future.
“We don’t have any confirmation of that, but it’s not a nameplate that will drop. It will just be a nameplate that will have a different role.”
Keyword: Toyota to reveal Prius successor next week, here's what we know so far