Prius c Concept Not for Europe

Toyota presented the Prius c Concept at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit and voices familiar with the matter are already hinting that the Japanese manufacturer is considering a production version of the car. The curious thing is that the vehicle won't be addressed to Europe, despite the fact that the Prius c has been developed with the European market in mind.

Basically, Toyota is already building the Auris hybrid and is gearing up to launch the Yaris hybrid, with the latter being developed on the same platform as the c concept, and both of them are manufactured in Europe. Building the new concept in Japan and importing it in Europe would be too expensive, Autocar reports.

What's really interesting is that Toyota believes that the c concept has great chances to succeed in the US and Japan, especially as its development was based on demands coming from European markets. It will be launched in 2012, sources suggest, so there's not so much to wait until it hits the market.

Not much is known about the concept, but Toyota says that many of the technologies used on the Prius will also make their way on the future supermini. As always, the production version is likely to be slightly different from the concept seen in Detroit but it will most likely retain its dimensions. Toyota plans to launch it in the first half of next year “as the most value-oriented hybrid in the US market with the highest mileage of any cordless hybrid.”