BREAKING: New Toyota Hybrid is the Scion iQ Hybrid

What do you mean "will" tank? Insight sales are already in the tank. If Toyota releases a 60 mpg hybrid for under $18,000, I agree that Toyota will have reached the "Hybrid for Everyone" ground that Honda seemed so desperate to grab hold.

I think that could be great for a lot of people.

My only long term fear would be that if a two tier Hybrid offering exists...in other words an low priced IQ hybrid, and The Prius...Toyota will feel even less threatened by Honda's Hybrid offerings and see it a green light to increase the Price of The Prius. (price has been slowly but steadily increasing since release) This may be inevitable, but right now competition and relative lack of options is forcing Toyota to keep The Prius at least in spitting distance of Insight. But if they have a vehicle that undercuts the Insight?

Buy your Prius soon, because there might come a time when the $23,000 range for a Prius of any configuration just doesn't happen.

 

I mean it will tank more below the current level.

 

Concept. Yawn. Wake me when it's ready for sale in the US.

 

If sold in the $teens this will serve another purpose. One of the very sharp marketing strategies that Toyota uses is to have a solid lower-priced vehicle protect the backside ( downside ) of the key vehicle.

• The Corolla protects the Camry from sliding into the $18-$20K range.
• The Yaris / Scions protect the Corolla from sliding into the $14K range
• The Avalon protects the ES350 from sliding into the $32-35K range
• The Highlander Hybrid's only purpose IMO is to protect the RX450H from sliding into the $45K range.

'Til now the Prius has had no protection against shots from the flank like the Insight II. It hasn't needed much protection to be sure but stasis can't be maintained for long. This new model protects the flank of the Prius in the $15K to 20K range.

 

Toyota inhouse model with Toyota inhouse model, there is always a gradation in costs, up and down a line-up of vehicles. But that's kind of my point, right now competition with The Insight, at least at release, made Prius II's and III's IMO excellent bargains. I think a significantly cheaper Hybrid whether branded as a Scion or Toyota does more to "release" the Prius to potentially a higher cost then it does to protect the Prius from sliding into a lower price range.

I guess ultimately, I'd be very happy to see a real Hybrid with excellent gas mileage be so affordable. But I'd also like to see real competition across the industry.

IMO The Corolla doesn't protect the Camry from sliding down in price...Toyota can create the vehicle and determine the price. The existence of The Corolla keeps The Civic competitive with the Corolla and vice versa.

I'd rather Prius had a clearer tangible competitor outside of Toyota itself. You could argue Ford Fusion Hybrid, or maybe even Civic Hybrid...but Prius really has no clear cut challengers at the moment. The next few years could become interesting.

 

But you can tell us though? Like, it is OK to tell your friends isn't it?

 

How about if it gets released as an Aston Martin?
Found this; -

By patsparks at 2010-01-08
Photo Rendering: A look at the production Aston Martin Cygnet - egmCarTech
Actually my son found this and told me about it. He is a bit of a car nut!

 

I think this will be a real seller. It will probably take more sales from the Smart car then other cars because of its size. Its similar in price to the Smart as well, with better mpg and more HP.

 

i hope it gets released as a toyota. it may tank as a scion. a lot of people don't recognize the scion brand as a sub-toyota brand. i've had people complain about simple things like scion's logo.

 

IMHO, it looks like Toyota should do the mechanicals...:rockon:

And Aston Martin should do the bodywork. :cheer2:

 

Dang. That is awesome. I hope it looks just like the photoshop. Would it have the same hybrid system as the Prius? If so, being so much smaller wouldn't it be capable of way better MPG? (I saw the 60MPG rating)

 

well, lets not get carried away on the price. it may start under $15,000 but the 5 door model i bet will still be $20,000... still a good price, mind you and one thing is for sure....

NEED MORE DETAILS!!

 

All I need is AC, power windows, and satellite radio!

 

As we speculated before, it is probably iQ based... just like Toyota said next Yaris will be iQ based... so it should be quite bigger than iQ itself (and i drove iQ and also rode in the back of it!), so imagine Yaris sized vehicle with interior savings of iQ.

iQ is 2.9m vehicle, where i could sit comfortably behind front passanger (we both were 6.0ft and over 200lbs of pure muscle)... Yaris adds 1m to the size... imagine Corolla space in Yaris sized vehicle.

 

again the safety issue of that is huge here I'd say

 

Looks nice, but I'll stay with my Prius.

 

Yep, the safety issue is huge. They clearly need to ban S class mercedes off the road.

lol