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OPINION: Think about my shock at seeing the new-generation Toyota Prius when it was revealed this week.
The world’s greatest automobile firm fretted over how you can reinvent its hybrid icon in an period outlined by full-electric autos, selecting giving it some newfound panache.
It seems to be nice – glossy, trendy and fully in contrast to what we’ve come to anticipate from Toyota’s longstanding eco chief. A brand new lease on life, because it have been.
The outdated mannequin was all creases and bizarre proportions, whereas a number of earlier generations have been maybe much less awkward but in addition extra boring, which is worse.
And but it’s this newest model, which has me all starry-eyed, that would be the first Prius Toyota gained’t promote in Australia.
In making this resolution, it took the fallacious lesson from the outdated mannequin’s failure to resonate, and pulled the pin at exactly the fallacious time.
It’s true that Prius gross sales plummeted of late, prompting its early demise. Toyota has lengthy maintained it performed its function: proving the value of petrol-electric drivelines earlier than they proliferated into Corollas, RAV4s, Camrys and Klugers.
Right this moment a majority of Toyota’s passenger vehicles and crossovers bought in Australia are hybrids, which to Toyota’s mind-set evidently means the Prius is now not required.
However I’d argue that is truly all of the extra cause to carry the Prius again, to reinvent a badge with dwindling cachet. Time to money in on all that tough work, proper?
Plus it doesn’t matter if different hybrids with Toyota badges outsell it. That’s the aim of a brand-leader. I’d have thought an organization so proficient at promoting would perceive the worth of this.
Toyota Australia isn’t afraid of area of interest choices, notably with its GR household of sports activities vehicles. So why has it binned the Prius simply because it turns into fascinating once more?
Not simply that, however this one doesn’t seem like a mere fuel-sipper, with behind-the-wheel pleasures restricted to hypermiling.
The brand new 2.0-litre parallel hybrid has a complete output of 144kW – properly up over the outgoing mannequin’s 90kW 1.8-litre.
Then there’s the plug-in hybrid with 164kW and a 0-100km/h time slashed to six.7 seconds, and an electrical driving vary 50 per cent greater – that may put vary at round 60km – from a 13.6kWh battery.
Toyota Australia’s product planners and executives are likely to do a bang-up job, because it dominates the gross sales charts. I considerably admire the Huge T even when many contemplate it a battery-electric laggard, however this resolution actually misses the mark.
I’m fairly certain there are Toyota individuals studying this, so please be mindful it’s by no means too late to rethink. Step one to addressing a fallacious resolution is to acknowledge it.
MORE: Toyota Prius: A glance again, because it’s retired from Australia
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