Auris Hybrid

The review is a somehow useless. It says that they had to push the gas pedal more than normal when going uphill, but did not say if using the Power mode would have changed anything.

Then they brag about fuel consumption, when *no* diesel car can achieve the 4.3L/100km I am achieving nowadays with the Prius. I have an *average* fuel consumption on a Prius that is equivalent in size and shape to a Passat or a Golf. None of these, with all the city driving I am doing would *never* get close to 5L/100km I am getting with the Prius. Also, does a diesel driving at 130km/h constant, like I did this past weekend, achieve 4.7L/100km (add 5% display error)? really? I am not so sure, since hitting a few traffic jams due to road works, or stopping/starting for refuelling, in small towns, etc, will increase fuel consumption *immediately*, as I am noticing more and more often on the contrary on the Prius - I hit a traffic jam and I am *happy* because apart the waste of time, I start saving fuel! You can also read my review on driving the Prius "happily" on the german highway here.
For me the Auris can be a hit in EU and would have likely bought, if it came out a bit earlier. I had to change car and could not wait longer. I hope the test drive will be good, because my parents are likely going to buy it and I really hope it will match my expectations.

The Auris does not sell well in EU, because standard motorisations on this type of car from Toyota are simply not good - VW and others are much better, plain simple (but not in town). Toyota sells well the Aygo, iQ, Yaris because of their sizes and smaller engines that do consume not much (though still more than the Prius in town!!!).
Toyota Diesels are nothing to talk home about. Let alone the design which was on the previous version plain ugly. The new Auris looks better and with the Hybrid version has become a more compelling option for crowded EU cities. A Prius in Munich is still OK, but too big for most Italian towns and parking options, for example. The Auris Hybrid can really be a hit, considering also the tax breaks and subsidies it will get. I am paying 36€ a year of tax in Germany (no tax for every gram of CO2 above 120g/km), and in EU that is *nothing*, compared to what you pay on average for taxes on a car with the engine size of the Prius.

I was instead more interested in the comments about the chassis behaviour and steering behaviour. That was a meaningful comment that I will test once I get my hands on an Auris Hybrid once it gets out here in Germany and can compare it directly to my daily experience with the Prius.

 

The Auris Hybrid has now a dedicated product page in the UK, German, French, Spanish and Swiss Toyota websites - as well as a Facebook German fan page.
This car looks really good and consumes less than the Prius!...
Either 3.8L/100km in Suburban/City/Highway in the base german model, or 4L/100km for all 3 cycles for the Executive version. CO2 values 89 and 93 g/km respectively.

 

I understand your point about the price.
But if you check close, the Auris and the Prius are essentially the same - the Prius is only 20cm longer and just as wide as the Auris. The same engine.
I cannot comment yet on the options on the trim available here yet.
So, how could Toyota price them so much differently?
Mind you, a Golf costs in Germany, with a very similar trim as the Prius (though without the HUD), more than the Prius. And the Golf is the same as the Auris (same compact-class).

Whatever, I have already bough my Prius and...I want to test drive an Auris ASAP

 

I went yesterday to a Toyota dealer to see the Auris Hybrid and I am *completely* disappointed. The car is about 20cm shorter than the Prius, but as similar overall size (especially width), yet the trunk is the most absurd and small I have ever seen on such a class of car.

The shape of the trunk is completely irregular, no extra hidden compartments, the batteries are, for some odd reason, not underneath the rear seats like in the Prius, rather directly "in the trunk" and even with rear seats flattened down, the shape remains completely irregular and impossible to use. I was wondering how one could possibly carry even one piece of hard cover luggage in "that". Totally unusable. Maybe a cover was missing, but even if that was the case, with an extra cover, shape would be regular, but the trunk would be *really* small.

What did they have in mind at Toyota? I pay 25k€ to get a trunk that reminds me of an Aygo or even worse an iQ (considering the overall size of the Auris). No wonder they never shown pics of the trunk in any of their ads or brochures.
I could not try it as well, since the dealer had only one.

For me, the Auris as is is a no-no. Rather buy a Prius, considering the relatively small price delta.
Totally disappointed.

My parents need to change car and I think I will steer them to the Honda Insight (test driving it today), considering they are driving about 15.000km/year and most of it is not in town or slow traffic, where the Prius performs the best fuel savings. Since the price delta is about 5k€, I have calculated that it would take them several years to compensate the extra money to buy a Prius, even if the Insight has clearly a higher fuel consumption.

Toyota needs, IMHO, to change the trunk of the Auris fast, otherwise they are not going to sell too many of them.