New Toyota Prius in China in 2010

Toyota will bring its flagship Prius model in China in 2010 and, curiously, the company is looking to maintain the same price level as for the current generation. The car could be priced at around 200,000 rmb (this is approximately $29,302), with the most expensive model to go as high as 250,000 rmb (more than $36,500), China Car Time reports.

Obviously, such a high price might be the main thing that could block the Prius from gaining high sales, even if China, a country that returned an impressive growth in the last months. According to the aforementioned source, a car is priced at around 60,000 rmb to 120,000 rmb in case it is offered with a 1.6-liter engine and at 110,000 to 180,000 rmb if it is offered with a 1.8-liter configuration.

Meanwhile, Toyota is also working on the 2010 Prius Plug-in Hybrid, a model that was revealed in concept form at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show in September.

The concept hybrid pairs a 1.8l 97 bhp regular powerplant to a permanent magnet synchronous electric unit, generating 79 bhp. With the power sourced from a Lithium-ion battery, the plug-in hybrid has a top speed of 62 mph (100km/hour) in electric mode and, on a full charge, it can cover a distance of up to 12.5 miles (20km).

The first pack of 500 of these models will be released by Toyota in early 2010, with some 150 to take to European streets. They will be used for evaluation purposes and will not guarantee a long-run production, the company announced back in September when revealing the car.