4th generation coming 2015!

Too much like "...CATFISH mouth..."

 

Today I was reviewing several automotive magazine web sites, and found numerous (many) "spy" pictures of 2016 vehicles being road tested. But no Prius. The absence makes me wonder if Toyota is not testing the new G4???? Or, if even after the delay, it is still not ready for road testing????

Remember, the "test mule" pictures that were circulated many months ago, was prior to the report that Toyota had returned to the drawing board. I suppose one explanation might be the test mule was testing the internal hybrid system, and the work has been completed, and the delay is solely due to exterior design changes????

 

Re: "test mules." There's no reason to believe that they haven't been testing the drive system inside a current chassis. The smoke and mirrors is just part of the thing they all do. Press is press, after all. If nobody ever saw a car in testing, that would also be news.

I just don't think the Prius is going to end up looking like the NS4. That was never intended to be a production model.

 

Why This Might Be the Beginning of the End for the Toyota Prius

Looks like we'll all be driving pickup trucks and Teslas.

 

Old article.

Yes with each car show we cross our fingers only to be disappointed by a new truck with slightly better mpg and looks a bit better.

I really think Toyota will push the technology envelope here. I am almost confident to see a 60mpg+ Prius, a Plugin with 15-20 miles EV with included wireless charging with 60mpg+ also.

And possibly the NS4 with 50 miles EV, 55 mpg+ and 500 miles range with 5 seats, wireless charging (this one I'm less certain about - but this could be the ultimate volt killer)

 

If the Gen 4 Prius does not look better outside, end up MUCH better inside and drive better, the masses will not give two squats that the regular liftback gets 60 mpg.
Saving 1.66 gallons upon fill up after 500 miles (over Gen 3), or $5 is for the most frugal.
.... Prius needs a little price trim also

 

I like your prediction inferno, its my dream car almost. Actually I really really hope when they announce Prius Gen 4, they will also give an indication what other hybrids are planned. The rumour was that NS4 or equivalent will get a 2.0 l ICE and if so we can expect a performance boost over Gen 3 which is ideal.

 

Which is why there is a focus on redesigning it. They are doing both, redesign (which we're all holding our breath...) and better fuel economy. They are going to push the envelope for both, and I think considering the current streak, design is the largest challenge.

Whatever happens, we won't know until 3 or 4 months prior to release. They announce it this month, we should expect it late spring. They announce it in the fall, we should see it in the winter, etc...etc...

 

To inferno,
Toyota redesigned the Corolla and put out it's all new model for 2014. I've sat in it several times and it's sickening they do the same things with the manual seat in that car as the Prius: Lower it down and the tilt increases more and more. Then lean seatback forward to compensate and get decent reach to steering wheel. Then front of seat bottom is slamming up on my thighs.
Just sat in brand new Prius Persona yesterday while having service. Horrible. Same thing, lower seat down, move seatback forward to compensate, squeeezeeee on the legs.
I get none of that in our Civic, or our Acccord.

Toyota seriously needs to ask themselves, why do they have the (manual) seat tilt increase and increase just for lowering the gosh darn seat? Then to salt the wound, the tilt is not adjustable by itself. It's freakin stupid!! I won't be buying this new Camry either. I was pleased to see an Edmunds 2015 Camry road test saying "our taller testers found the driver's seat could use more under-thigh support". Good for them, I concur!!

I'm expecting to have a quick look a gen 4 Prius to see if by some miracle Toyota gets their seating s*#t together otherwise i jump brands by next year.

 

I cannot get omfortable enough in a liftback or Camry with power seat. Looking at other brands but I will see what the gen 4 brings.

 

I know in advance, that some will object and write other opinions to the following. I enjoy reading all comments.

I want to return to the "beginning of the end for the Prius" article.
Conclusions are drawn that I consider questionable. I seriously doubt that the price of gasoline deserves the cause and effect the author attributed to it in the article. To compare the Prius and the Cruze is downright foolish, IMHO. Way back in 2009 when I first started reading PC, emissions was a predominant point of discussion. Personally, I am not nearly as interested in the price of gas, or emissions as I am in the combined fuel efficiency, reliability, comfort , interior space and handling, of the Prius. Other cars do one or more well, even better than the Prius .... but not all five.

From the 2010 model through the 2015 model, it is difficult to identify any changes in the brand, short of a new tail-light and new colors. The above mentioned article makes a big point of lagging sales in 2015. Speaking for myself, there is nothing that I can perceive in the 2015 that would move me to trade in my 2010 for a 2015. It is still delivering the five attributes mentioned above admirably. I have/had high hopes for the next generation ..... and planned to purchase a copy just as soon as possible after introduction. But, from all that I have read .... and HAVE NOT READ ..... I am cooling my enthusiasm to rush out a buy when they become available. Whenever that might be.

I am concerned about Toyota and the new edition that we are all anxious awaiting. From all that we can glean from press reports, I am wondering if Toyota is having difficulty meeting expectations. Oh, I know some will retort, that is just Toyota's conservative business nature. I am not so sure.

Any thoughts? Positive or negative.

 

It is weird leading up to this apparent next generation: There have been no recent sightings of a test vehicle all wrapped in black. More later

 

yes, and no "concepts" in autoshows. It almost looks like they might have the "car" but do not have the "looks" and nothing to show. It may be a signal that there will be no 2016 Prius, and when it comes it will be 2017 model.

 

NY: April 2nd - 12th, is the Autoshow to look forward to. I think we will see a dedicated Toyota plug-in concept, too early to unveil genIV IMO.

 

Didn't we first get a test mule in may'ish 2013 lol.

 

The Prius has a dedicated group of buyers, but certainly not a growing marketshare. Sure, the new Prius might get 5mpg, 10mpg more. Toyota will still offer manual seats with the lift/tilt mandatory combo, a fairly elevated MSRP, and extremely pricey options. Regardless of the price of gas or anything else, people still have to drive a car they fit in, am comfortable with, has a decent stereo and electronics, and looks pleasing to their eye. The only thing that really makes Prius sales rise is huge gas price increases, or a flashy new model that brings back loyal customers looking to trade.

A modern, well-designed model that is both practical and sporty, gets even better mileage, and is still roomy and has modern seatings and electronics, will sell better than just a somewhat new model with better mileage. Given what Toyota has just done with the Corolla/Camry, and now the Prius v, I have set the bar so incredibly low for the next Prius hatchback it's practically on the ground

The next generation Prius will either look like another appliance, or it will draw far more people into see what it's all about. But at the end of the day, while roomy, the Prius hatchback generally competes with far lower priced cars. I know many existing Prius owners don't get that, but in the real world it's true. It probably won;t be long before the Prius loses its grip all together. The Fusion Hybrid has pulled even with the Camry Hybrid, Honda's Accord Hybrid will start selling better if they're ready to market it, and most look at the sticker prices and out the door prices of regular ICE cars from the Focus to the Fit to the Corolla and the Camry, and save a ton of money doing so.

I hope that this real lengthy delay means that Toyota will do something entirely different this time and launch a Prius lift back that everyone has to look at. I'm just not betting any money on it.

 

The whole "...end of the Prius" headline is rather silly.
At worst, I would guess sales will get a small bump with the next gen and then return to flat.
Which is quite a nice level of sales IMHO.

The Prius has/is loosing the early adopters and many of those that didn't want to use gasoline for national security reasons.
They have managed to replace those lost customers with new ones. No growth, however, no real losses either.
In a best case scenario, they can broaden the appeal of the next gen Prius and return to growth.

History will tell us in a year or so.

 

Well, you actually just wrote history and making predictions again, congratulations!
Reason for apparent increase in plug-ins is tax credits and new models added by each manufacturer.

It would be helpful to predict what will happen when the tax credits are exhausted and used vehicles with large batteries looking for buyers, say 8-10 year old cars out of warranty.

2012 9 models: http://insideevs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Monthly-Plug-In-Sales-2012-Finalv4.png
2014 22 models: http://insideevs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2014-sales-chart-Dec-vfinal3.png

 

I agree with you on this Felt. Basically, there are those who consider the overall value of the Prius and some who base their opinion purely on facts and figures. I also find that most people who end up buying a Prius do so for the balance of traits it offers. Those who negatively criticize the Prius (usually) are of the latter type and these include a good section of the motoring press obsessed with sports cars. Of course these are just generalisations so there will be exceptions. The important point is however that Prius Gen3 is still selling 6 years after it was introduced - it sold in millions not just a few thousand. Gen3 is still being compared to cars to be released and even those being showcased as future models. My opinion is that it will continue to sell in decent numbers even if Gen4 gets delayed for a few more years. I do however see a "beginning of the end" for Diesel powered light vehicles in the years ahead. The ever strict emission rules coupled with added taxation due to affect Diesel powered vehicles will mean it is less likely to scale well into the future.

Again, have to agree here broadly. If Gen4 comes out and within a year sales start to slow down, that would relate somewhat to a "the beginning of the end" scenario but certainly not otherwise.
I was one of the early adopters of Gen3 (across the pond) over here in the UK and in hindsight, I would have been better off waiting for a while. I could have got a demo car for about 1.5k -2k less after 6 months (that would have taken me to December 2009 which was not too late) and early 2010 there was a mild refresh of the cabin/dashboard after early complaints of rattles. I also lost on warranty because the very initial Prius cars sold in the UK came with a 5 year hybrid and battery warranty but that was restored to 8 years in 2010. So all-in-all, I should have waited and I could have but one fine day in September 2009 I decided to test drive Prius Gen3 and ended up signing papers to get one the same day.

Yes Toyota must be facing difficulties meeting expectations - but not quite the ones we imagine I would say. Had Gen4 been a straight evolution of Gen3 and meant for the same target buyers, I am certain the new model would have arrived by now. However, (1) they decided this time they are going to try appeal to the mass market and if that was not challenging enough, (2) they also decided to make Gen4 the first car to preview the TGNA architecture. I would say (1) would have resulted in many other individuals (Engineers, Managers, etc.) getting involved in the Prius Gen4 project leading to longer decision times and (2) would have definitely added a massive overhead in terms of creating re-usable design elements not to mention testing of re-usable building blocks (in TGNA) would take many times the usual effort.