So what are multiple Toyota Prius models to be called? Other contenders included Prius (24 percent), Priuses (20 percent), Prien (18 percent) and Prium (13 percent).
Toyota’s media campaign for the new Toyota Prius family includes a website dedicated to current and future Prius models.
The exterior receives a revised front bumper and an enlarged lower grille.
Toyota has also come up with fresh alloy wheel options.
Also noticeable, but not extremely relevant, is that the push start button color has been changed to have a hybrid blue hue.
In addition to the standard Prius, Toyota has also put on display the Prius V and the Prius Plug-in Hybrid. The Prius Plug-in Hybrid represents Toyota's latest development of their modular Hybrid Synergy Drive platform. With three driving modes (HV, EV, and EV-City), the Prius Plug-in can go up to 14.3 miles on electric power alone and can return up to 134.5 mpg.
Toyota claims their main market for the Prius family will again consist of Japan, the U.S, and Europe. The updated and new Prius lineup will soon be joined with even more Toyota hybrids, as the automaker has also announced their plans of introducing 10 new hybrids by 2015.
For example, more than 650 of Toyota’s suppliers suffered great damages and halted production, forcing the Japanese automaker to reconsider its strategy.
Could it be the cars that helped it the most to become the world’s number one car manufacturer since 2008? Up until that point, six of the world’s 10 biggest companies were Japanese, with Toyota in ninth place. When the real estate bubble burst, things changed dramatically: Toyota is the sole Japanese company in BusinessWeek’s top 50 ranking, down to 35th place.
Toyota will certainly lose the number one spot on world sales to General Motors this year and Lexus, after a decade, falls behind rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Now, Akio Toyoda is betting his company’s future on hybrid technology and especially the Prius.
