Toyota is considering setting up a separate brand for Prius, and may broaden the Prius lineup with bigger and smaller Prius models, the head of Toyota’s American sales arm said today.

The idea is the brainchild of James E. Lentz III, who is president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., who first talked about a possible Prius brand at the Detroit auto show in January.

He said he was lobbying Toyota officials in Japan to let him establish a Prius brand in the United States that would be similar to Scion, Toyota’s brand of lower-priced cars aimed at younger buyers.

The brand would include the original Prius, and future models bearing a Prius badge that Toyota is said to be developing. For example, one version could be smaller than the original Prius, and “there could be one on steroids,” meaning a bigger version of Prius, Mr. Lentz said.

Toyota plans to show the next-generation version of Prius at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show this January, where it also will unveil a dedicated hybrid car for Lexus. 

[Source: The New York Times ]