Bob Carter remarks:

In 1997, Prius went on sale in Japan as the world’s first mass-produced, gas-electric, hybrid vehicle. In 2000, Prius came to America, where it now has the highest owner loyalty in the industry. It’s also the world’s best-selling hybrid with more than one million sold in 44 countries. Prius has proven that hybrid technology is viable, durable, and one of the best ways to preserve our environment and maximize our natural resources. As a result hybrid technology is now a mainstream option being adopted by automakers and people everywhere.

The features and performance of the new midsize Prius that you’ll see in a few moments are superior to anything we have ever built. And along with building a better car, we will make it available in more places. We plan to sell this new Prius in eighty countries worldwide, nearly twice as many as today. Depending on market conditions, our global sales objective will be about 400,000 units per year by 2010. That will put Prius near the top of our best-selling vehicles around the world along with Camry and Corolla. 

[Source: Toyota]

 
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 ]