That's rather vague. I'm going to assume you meant adding a plug would increase base price, pushing Prius out of the reach of a supposed customer not interested in Corolla hybrid. Why would that be a problem? The choice of Corolla hatchback or crossover could address that.
Corolla Hatchback is a size smaller - tiny boot, back seat considerably smaller. The Corolla SEDAN is considerably larger and more practical - except it's a SEDAN.
That doesn't change the discussion about having choice... 3 variations of Corolla... hatchback... sedan... crossover. Between those, the base should be covered. Remember, that's how Prius started. It fit between Corolla and Camry.
You don't get the Touring Sports version of the Corolla overthere? It is the most sold variant overhere.
Despite "But where's the Hybrid WAGON" comments on every road test for a Corolla - TOYOTA refuses to bring them here. I'd buy one in a heartbeat. I've had many wagons in my life - love them.
That's to bad. I have been driving one since September 2019. Great car with a lot of room. Currently at 73000km or about 45000 miles.
Because there are members here that don’t want a Corolla Hybrid sedan. They want a Prius liftback or even the Prius v. The Corolla hatchback is small. Well good sized for the city but passenger and cargo space aren’t that much larger than the Prius c. Think more like Golf size rather than Prius Liftback. Again, we don’t get the Corolla hatchback as a hybrid and given that TMNA wants to market the hatchback as a sporty variant of the Corolla, a hybrid is unlikely. The sedan part is covered, yes for those that don’t want a Prius. The Corolla Cross won’t satisfy those that want a liftback. It’s simply replacing the CH-R. Unfortunately no. Wagons don’t sell well in North America. We just lost the Golf wagon and Alltrack versions with the upcoming MkVIII Golf (we may end up getting GTI and R models only. No box standard Golf for us). The best selling wagon here is a Subaru Outback and even then, it only accounts for <1% of the total passenger car market (thereabouts).
If we did get that over here in the USA, I'd have one already...haha. BTW - We had a Mazda Protege 5 for quite a while..so I'm partial to wagons. GREAT car...but the damned thing rusted like no tomorrow...just like every other Mazda we have tried. I gave up on 'em...
The hatchback actually has a shorter wheelbase than the sedan. The wagon has the sedan's wheelbase in addition to the longer and bigger cargo space. Most of Europe has the choice of all three. Between declining sales and expansion of other Toyota hybrid models, I don't see the plain hybrid Prius being around for long. The Corolla options elsewhere have made it redundant. Shame they aren't available here, but Toyota makes more having people buy the Rav4, and most buyers want that, or are willing to compromise into one here. The Corolla Cross is just the hatchback with a lift. Same wheelbase and same length with lack of overhang in the back for cargo. Which likely means the same shortage of 8 to 9 cubic feet of cargo space from the wagon under EU specs. Wagons sell great, we just call them SUVs. We like things taller. Minivans were taller than the wagons of that day, but then they became uncool. So wagons came back with a couple of inches more off the ground. That's why Subaru cancelled the Legacy wagon, it wasn't tall enough.
Ain’t marketing great? Although some SUVs still have less cargo space than similarly sized wagons. The lower height of a wagon allows easier access to roof boxes. Not to mention lower weight, better handling, cheaper tyres, better efficiency and in some cases, lower insurance costs.
Cheap fuel didn't help. The current Rav4 has nearly the same rating as the 2016 Camry. With that, many people opted to replace their sedan with a SUV. Without any real wagon options, they don't see what they are giving up. To not mar any off roading cred a SUV might have, they don't have the longer tail of a wagon to reduce departure angle, so are more a hatchback than a wagon.
You forgot hand washing. Just try to get up to the middle of the top on a Rav4 compared to a sedan. Or even the middle of the windshield if you are shorter than 6'.
Yep...our Minivan, a Mazda MPV, that we had a few years ago was a pain in the butt to wash/wax compared to our other vehicles. The best to take care of has been our Hyundai Sonata and Elantra GT. They both have full 'panorama glass' roofs...so need to wax the top at all! Makes things a whole lot easier.
We had a Mazda MPV that we drove during a hail storm, lots of dents to the roof. When we traded it, we brought it in one evening and they were eager to make a deal, didn't notice the dings.
