New, Larger, Smaller Toyota Prius Versions on Their Way

Now that rumors of a potential Prius MPV are becoming more of a certainty, Toyota confirmed, through the voice of Bob Carter, the U.S. sales chief for the Toyota brand, that the company is indeed working on multiple variations of the Prius. Details were not provided whatsoever, but we do know that Toyota is pondering a whole Prius family which will also include a smaller and more affordable version plus a larger family car, probably in the form of the MPV we were talking about.

More details will be unveiled at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in January 2011, Autonews reported citing the Toyota official.

"Some consumers have a need for more space, more capacity. Other people are looking for something a little smaller and perhaps lower priced," said Bob Carter. "That's the concept of the family of Priuses. When you get into vehicles transacting at $40,000 and above in terms of total industry, that air starts getting pretty thin."

And although Toyota will focus its efforts on green models, the company is aware that EV adoption won't take place suddenly and it will need a long period of time until customers will finally consider an electric vehicle a real solution.

"We do see a market for EVs, but their cost and convenience is still a large question," Carter said. "Some believe EVs are very quickly going to get to 10 percent of the industry. We are much more cautious than that."

Toyota has already signed a partnership with Tesla Motors for the production of an electric RAV4 model which, according to voices familiar with the matter, is likely to go on sale in 2012. Product availability will depend on customer demand, but 13 U.S. states have already been confirmed as targets for the future model.