Fresh off a glow-up for its latest generation, the trailblazer for Toyota hybrid cars may make a local comeback amid growing sales of petrol-electric vehicles.
The Toyota Prius could make a surprise return to Australia after years of staring on from the sidelines at the latest, and widely-acclaimed fourth-generation model.
Toyota's hybrid pioneer was pulled from local showrooms in mid-2022 amid slow sales, months before the reveal of the current Prius, with styling considered to be more attractive than before.
Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss, admitted to reporters at the Tokyo motor show in recent days that he "would've loved to have taken [the Prius], in hindsight".
Now Australia is looking increasingly likely to follow the UK in reviving the Prius after pulling the plug at the wrong moment.
"I think it's a wonderful-looking car, and spending the last couple of days in Japan, I've seen a few on the road; it's very impressive," Hanley told Drive in a follow-up interview.
"And you know, I'd like to revisit it because I think under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard [NVES]... coming into place, particularly [in the] post-2027 period, it would be advantageous for us to re-look at it and see if we can make it work in our product line-up.
"So, yeah, we'll re-study Prius for sure."
The Toyota executive is referring to Australia's just-introduced emissions rules for new cars, which penalise brands for selling too many high-CO2 vehicles which do not meet government targets based on their type and weight.
The rules get tougher each year, so adding another hybrid or plug-in hybrid option to the Toyota range – even if it is not as popular as the Corolla or RAV4 – helps the brand.
Price is likely to play a key role in getting a Prius revival over the line in Australia, as it is similar in size to a Corolla, but is unlikely to be as cheap to manufacture.
The outgoing Prius departed showrooms at $38,365 plus on-road costs for the base variant – about $10,000 more than a mid-grade Toyota Corolla hybrid sedan with more equipment – or $45,825 for the better-equipped i-Tech, near the top of the Camry range on price.
Where the Prius could stand apart is the option of plug-in hybrid technology, alongside a conventional hybrid option.
In Europe, it is rated for 71km to 86km of electric-only driving range in European WLTP lab testing, from a 2.0-litre petrol engine, electric motor, and 13.6kWh battery pack.
Plug-in hybrid technology will make its Toyota debut in Australia in the new RAV4 due in 2026, offering up to 100km of claimed WLTP electric range from a 2.5-litre engine and 22.7kWh battery.
"I just think there's an opportunity there for it, being potentially a plug-in hybrid or hybrid," said Hanley.
"I think it would be advantageous for us under what we know today to be the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard ... I think it's got a place in our line-up."
In the final full year of the Prius in Australia, 2021, just 77 examples were reported as sold, down from a height of 3413 in 2008.
Sales of hybrid Toyota cars have surged by 72 per cent since 2021, however – from 65,491 cars, to 112,653 – as the company's range has expanded, and consumer interest in petrol-electric vehicles has increased.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
