The Toyota Prius family is set to expand further after the addition of smaller hatchback called Prius C. Previously, the sole product line-up was expanded with the introduction of Prius V, a 7-seater compact MPV. This is part of Toyota offensive strategy to expand its hybrid market to more market segment to increase its market capture.
The 5 door hatchback dimension is 3995mm x 1695mm x 1445mm for length, width and height respectively. The car rides on 2550mm wheelbase. In a nutshell, what we have here is a Yaris-size hatchback with hybrid drivetrain.
The car is styled differently from current crops of recent Toyota offerings, which has turned into angular and edgier kind of design to pose greater visual impact perhaps. Prius C continues with Prius V design lines such as the swoopy glasshouse, which curved dramatically towards the C-pillar. The front end adopt typical aerodynamic Prius nose, and blends it with curvier and fancier design detailing for the bumper and air intakes. The rear end gets gigantic rear light, with mostly clear lens elements. The exterior style is complemented by stylish 15" alloy wheel. Overall, the car imparts youthful-look to it instead of typical staid-looking Toyota cars. The car is also slated to have 5 shades of youthful color to choose from including funky tones such as Yellow.
The cabin gets funky when it comes to console design, with asymmetric layout for the dashboard. The steering wheel is from the Prius family, but the gear console and knob is big departure from typical Toyota hybrid-look, it instead looks like a normal Yaris item. Typical to JDM fashion, the interior is highly customizable in terms of coloring for seats and dashboard, as well as the accents surrounding the power window switch and glove box. In Japan market at least, the Prius C comes in G,S and L trims where the accessories are offered differently according to spesific package. More detail and photo after the jump.
The Prius C is powered by 1.5l in-line 4 engine, coupled with electric motor and hooked to a CVT gearbox. The gasoline engine produced 74PS@4800 rpm and 111Nm@4000rpm and the electric motor produced 61PS and 169Nm of power and torque respectively. Combined output is 100PS. Toyota estimates that its new hybrid car can achieve 35.4 km/litre in Japanese JC08 driving cycle.
The car is due to be launched to Japan market during Tokyo Motor Show soon, and the world debut is set to be during Detroit Motorshow in January 2012.
More photos from the scanned leaked brochure below. Photos are from i-Ryuki via Carscoop
