Toyota Unveils Cheapest Prius C

Published: Friday, January 13, 2012, 12:35 [IST]

Toyota, the world's largest seller of hybrid cars has unveiled a new Prius that is by far the cheapest Prius in the line-up at the Detroit auto show. The new Prius C is a a hatchback and is aimed at the city driver. The Japanese carmaker has said the C in the Prius C stands for city. Evidently aimed at young drivers, the new hybrid is slightly smaller than the Prius Sedan.

The Prius C is priced at $19,000 (Rs.9.8 lakhs) for the entry level variant making it the cheapest Prius so far. Toyota has claimed mileage figures of 22.53kmpl on city roads and 19.55kmpl on highways. As you would notice the mileage on city roads is greater in this car. This is due to the fact that the hybrid system does much of the work during the stop start traffic ensuring lesser use of fuel.

The Prius C has a potential top overtake the regular Prius and become the highest selling hybrid car. The car will be initially sold in Japan and the USA. Despite American car buyers preferring to buy sedans over hatchbacks, the Prius C hatchback offers nearly as much space as the Prius sedan.

Toyota has ensured there is sufficient space for the occupants as well as lugage by reducing the weight and scale of components used and also by moving the battery and the fuel tank behind the rear seat. There is sufficient luggage space for a city car too.

Toyota has said it will launch the Prius C in four variants with the entry level model costing $19,000. It will have several premium features as standard. The list is a long one and here it is :