Toyota to unveil 5th generation Prius hybrid

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to will reveal the fifth-generation Prius hybrid on Wednesday via a global video link.

No information was given ahead of the unveil apart from teaser pictures, one of which included the inscription Hybrid Reborn.

The Prius was Toyota’s first global hybrid model when it launched in 1997 and the car went on to become a trailblazer for the fuel-saving properties of electrified drivetrains.

Toyota has since deployed hybrid powertrains across the majority of its vehicles in Europe, which has contributed to sales of the Prius dropping to low levels in the region.

U.S. sales of the Prius plunged 44 percent to 29,994 units through October this year, Toyota said in its monthly U.S. sales report.

It's a similar story in Canada, where Prius sales are down 39 per cent to 3,771 through October. 

The automaker withdrew the Prius from Europe this year after selling just 2,291 in 2021, according figures from market analysts Dataforce.

Toyota has previously explained the falling popularity of the Prius by pointing to the declining sales in the midsize category. The current Prius falls just below the dimensions of a midsize car with a length of 4,540 mm.

Toyota first revealed the current generation Prius in 2015. It was one of the first vehicles within the group to use the new TGNA global vehicle architecture that is also expected to underpin the new car.

Toyota touted its bigger interior space and improved fuel economy, but the car’s success was hampered by its challenging design.

Toyota is expected to increase the visual appeal of the new Prius in the same way that it ditched the outlandish looks of its original Mirai fuel-cell car, when it introduced a second-generation model.