Hmmmm. That's interesting, Rav4 too...

According to Toyota, it's only a matter of time and batteries!

And the Honda Fit Hybrid is supposed to be coming soon, so it makes sense that Toyota would be close behind.

Of course, it may be the Europeans get it, and we don't. Again.

Well, since Auris is basically a European hatchback Corolla, and you don't get that car either, I'd be surprised if North America got this.

Auris is one step up in size from Fit/Jazz, but is a bit smaller than Prius. If this story is true, I think I may be looking at an Auris Hybrid rather than a new Prius. For many Europeans, Prius is just too damn big.

AutoCar also reported on this story.

If built in the UK, that's another advantage: it's not being shipped right across the world to get to customers. Maybe we could order what we actually want rather than choose from a more limited range of what Toyota have actually pre-built.

build in the UK? nice.. maybe the price can be lower then to.

Its a Toyota, don't count on it.

Would Toyota be tempted to increase the price of the Prius?

This makes more sense to me than an hybrid Yaris. It's got to be easier to find space for an HV battery in a vehicle that size.

I understood that the current RAV4 platform would 'never' be hybridised. Is the current platform up for renewal soon?

mm a hybrid yaris.... like that to.

i want a hybrid aygo..

I agree. With all the hype and demand for the Prius and limited production of batteries, it wouldn't make financial sense for Toyota to offer an additional [styling] version of the HSD for the same basic size car as the Prius in the same market (U.S.).

(Especially with Mr. Toyoda's new "consolidate" philosophy).

I'd rather have the Matrix even if it only got 30 to 40 Mpg. Usable cargo box size equal to my Explorer minus 6 inches in length. Weight capacity and towing over 1500 lbs. not all that important and rarely used. Being able to stuff a big tv, ac unit, or any thing else in a big box and close the hatch is. Now I have to wait and see if it will happen? I may never get a new car at this rate.

If I remember correctly, you guys said the GenII Prius and the Matrix were built on the exact same frame. Right? Is the GenIII Prius built on a different frame than the current Matrix?

Oh man is that ever an ugly car. I fear if they make it my wife is going to want it because she's always said if they make a hybrid Matrix she will want one of those instead of the 2005 Prius she has now. I never understood that. Mini station wagons are not my idea of pretty cars.

Why do you say that? To me, anything with a vertical or near-vertical rear window is a mini-wagon (i.e., from the side they tend to look rectangular). That picture of the Auris sure seems to have a near-vertical rear window to me. People need to stop calling those "hatchbacks". Here is a list of "true" hatchbacks I've owned:

1987 Porsche 944S
1991 Plymouth Laser Turbo
2004 Totota Prius

obviously you live in the country where hatchbacks are not that popular... Here in Europe, well over 80% of cars are hatchbacks, and Auris is an hatchback and not an wagon or small MPV. It is considered 5 door hatchback, just like Yaris, Golf/GTI, etc.

The two cars may have the same wheelbase, but Toyota's model code system doesn't agree. The Prius is an xW platform with the 'car on platform' designation being 'A' - primary car on this platform. Avensis is 'T' platform. Avensis has fully independent rear suspension. Prius still has the inferior torsion-beam system.

Toyota model codes are basically made up of the one- or two-letter engine family code added to the one- or two-letter platform code. A current Avensis with a ZR engine is a ZRT270, 271 or 272 depending on which ZR-family engine it has. The number sequence suggests 27th generation - the T code goes right back to Coronas of the 1970s.

Toyota have now run out of one-letter platform codes and seem to have stopped using one-letter engine codes. It appears that they have a limit of 3 letters at the start of the model code, though. For two-letter platform codes, they've started using some other letter as the second of the three, with the first being the first of the engine code and the last the last of the platform code. Hence NX + xW = NHW(10, 11, 20) and ZR + xW = ZVW(30). I use an x for the first letter because it's not clear what the value of that letter should be. Anyway, at least in Toyota's ordering system, a Prius is considered significantly different from Avensis.

(It's sometimes said that a Scion tC is related, but that has an ANT10 model code with an 'A' after the hyphen, indicating that Scion tC is the primary model on xT platform, which may just be coincidence; generally x# platforms don't have much relation to the # platform, e.g. iQ is KGJ10, xJ platform, no relation to J = Landcruiser!)

Dragging this post back on-topic, the Auris with ZR engine is a ZRE151/152, indicating that it shares a platform with Corolla.

One of the problems for Prius in the European market is that it is too big. The British market has been trending towards superminis and lower-medium cars for a long time now, with much of the larger car market going to MPVs (not really mini-vans because those are also vast in comparison) and yes, sigh, SUVs. SMMT figures show 34.1% of the market being superminis (Fiesta, Corsa, Yaris, Jazz [Fit]) and 28.4% lower-medium-size cars (Focus, Astra, Auris, Civic).

I personally often find difficulty parking because spaces have often been designed for smaller cars. When parallel-parking, spaces left are often too small for Prius, where an Auris might fit.

We all had a good laugh at the Prius IPA demo at the pre-launch event, because the space - apparently the smallest the car would park itself in - was vast. At least a metre at each end. I live on a road with marked residents' parking areas which you parallel-park into, and I've had to park in about a foot of space at each end before now. It's doable, but would be much easier with a car 230mm (about 9 inches) shorter.

Having now test-driven the new Prius, I think it's a good car but not a significant enough upgrade to change models early. I'm at least waiting for this Auris.