Confirmed: This is the 2010 Toyota Prius
Posted Oct 16th 2008 12:32PM by John Neff
Click above for gallery of the 2010 Toyota Prius
Jalopnik is reporting this morning that images published last night on the web of what appeared to be the next-generation 2010 Toyota Prius are, in fact, the real deal. Toyota PR reportedly confirmed to the website that what we're looking at is the same car that will be revealed in January at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. We've also included some spy shots in the gallery below that would seem to corroborate this.As Damon pointed out last night, the new design is an evolution of the current model that incorporates some recent favorite styling cues of Toyota designers like the bulbous badge housing up front. The interior, however, is a marked step away from the current model's spaceship controls, and thankfully eschews that car's dash-mounted shifter for a new one properly placed on the buttressed center console. Mechanically speaking, the new Prius is expected to arrive with a more powerful gas engine, bigger electric motor and, despite continuing to use nickel-metal hydride rather than lithium-ion batteries, improved fuel efficiency. It is the Prius after all.
UPDATE: Toyota has confirmed publicly on its Open Road Blog that these shots are indeed the 2010 Prius.
[Source: Jalopnik, Thanks for the spy pics, Jason and Merritt!]
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
Torrent 12:44PM (10/16/2008)
Toyota. Stop while you're not ahead.....
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Preus 12:45PM (10/16/2008)
My, my, my. It's terrible.
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Adrian 12:47PM (10/16/2008)
NO ITS NOT. If it is, then why are the headlights completely different in the different shots?! Am I crazy, and i seeing things? What is going on?
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shadysi 1:04PM (10/16/2008)
I'm wondering the same thing... some random toyotoa PR confirmed that this is the next gen prius? I smell some bs...
P B 1:11PM (10/16/2008)
The other, close shot of the nose is distorted in perspective, either in camera or after the fact, but it's the same car.
LOs 1:14PM (10/16/2008)
I have to agree with you here. The bottom duct on the supposed official pictures has a completely different shape The outside edges angle in on the top as opposed to the spy shots of a test model.
blotto 12:47PM (10/16/2008)
If the Prius gets close to 100MPG, I don't care what it looks like.
In any event, looks like it's going to be an interesting battle between the Insight and the Prius. Aesthetically, I think the Insight is going to be the winner.
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shethj 2:05PM (10/16/2008)
1. its not going to get 100mpg. reports have said mileage will increases slightly as will hp
2. The Insight will be cheaper and will make significant dent in Prius sales
3. The looks only didnt matter when there were no competitors. Starting next year there will be a competitor.
4. The Volt's price has not been set and wont be for some time. I dont know why people are saying "it will be $40k" as if thats a fact. Plus there will be a substantial tax rebate.
blotto 2:27PM (10/16/2008)
Good points on 1 and 2.
Regarding 3.: There are already competitors in the hybrid market. The Civic Hybrid being one of them. The Camry and Altima Hybrids are also available.
At the moment, cars like the Prius and Insight are "eco-halo" cars that enable people to get good MPG performance and supposedly lower their carbon footprint. These cars also enable these consumers to make a statement along the lines of, "Look at me, I'm pro-green!" As such, they want a car that will make them stand out in the crowd of gas guzzling SUV's.
The hybrid market is still nascent, and I predict function will still prevail over form. In the end, for this class of vehicles, who really cares what the car looks like if it gets crappy MPG and is unreliable.
If the Volt hits a home run on its first gen outing, that'll be a big win for GM. If not, do they even have a viable Plan B in the pipeline?
Toyota and Honda aren't going to be sitting ducks in the hybrid market - they've announced their intentions to expand their dedicated hybrid lineup. Nissan is also supposed to be coming online with their hybrid system in 2010.
Food for thought.
Xcountryflyer 12:48PM (10/16/2008)
They must have been drinking the Honda Kool-Aid in designing ugly front ends. The car otherwise to me looks fine inside and out, but that Yaris' plus front end it not so pretty. I'm sure it will sell regardless.
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OkGO 12:49PM (10/16/2008)
I like it, however..it looks too...Matrix/Vibe like to me...and on the spy shot..the front end looks like a Cobalt SS...we'll see how this design goes...although i DO like the bigger wheels...it actually fills out he wheel arches
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jv2k 3:29PM (10/16/2008)
Matrix/vibe? Cobalt ss?
You need glasses or eye surgery.
KingCyrus 12:51PM (10/16/2008)
I think the front is great, its the rest of the car that needs work, alot of work....
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Red 12:51PM (10/16/2008)
Look at the angle of shot in the close-up. It's clear that the side of the car is shaper in relation to being perpendicular to the front end than how it looks in the full picture. You can also see this looking at the full picture down near the foglights, just to the right. That angle is pretty sharp.
It appears to be a depth of perception thing, which I think is why it looks different in the two pics.
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Red 1:13PM (10/16/2008)
This was a response to Adrian.
FIX THE DAYUM COMMENT SYSTEM ALREADY!!!!
Carlos 12:53PM (10/16/2008)
April fools autoblog just punked all of you!
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dantzig 12:54PM (10/16/2008)
i think it's just such a good render that the PR people were fooled. they're just PR and probably can't tell the difference.
i'll give you that the other headlight picture might just be sorta messed up ...
but to me it's hard to explain why the rear wheel appears to be LEANING towards the car.
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Geeky1 12:54PM (10/16/2008)
Still every bit as nasty as it was yesterday, but something else occurs to me: the instrument cluster is still in the wrong place. Has nobody at Toyota considered hiring an ergonomist or something? The instruments belong in front of the driver, not in the middle of the damn dashboard. Idiots.
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Sean 6:42PM (10/16/2008)
It... uh..
I can't tell the difference between this and the old one.
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CarbonBlack 1:01PM (10/16/2008)
WOW, the car still SUCKS!
This car is the poster child for a new era of Suckdom
I got goosebumps just thinking about the future
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/15/report-in-2020-all-cars-will-be-hybrids-toyota-think-so-too/
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