Toyota Prius "will evolve" despite hybrid hero's sales crisis

Toyota Australia says the Prius hybrid “will evolve” despite plummeting sales and the axing of spin-off variants.

Sales of the world’s most famous hybrid vehicle have dropped sharply in recent years, globally and locally, as buyers switch to petrol-electric versions of regular Toyota models such as the RAV4 and Corolla.

Only 23 Priuses have been sold in Australia to the end of May, a lower figure than the 97 Prius V people-movers sold – which is being discontinued at the end of August.

The Prius V, which is effectively being replaced by the Kluger as the company’s seven-seater hybrid offering, joins the Prius C hybrid city car which was axed in 2020. Toyota Australia, however, insists the regular Prius won’t face the same fate.

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“Yes, we are rationalising the Prius line-up...but have no intention of dropping the [Prius] nameplate,” said Toyota Australia boss Sean Hanley.

“There's a lot of history in Prius for us. It was the launch of hybrid [technology], and it has proved to be one of the greatest investments we ever made, in my opinion, moving towards [our] Beyond Zero [range of pure electric vehicles]. Prius started the journey for us.

“Clearly, we're now expanding our range [of hybrid vehicles]...Prius will still play a role, but a different role going forward.”

The current Prius is the fourth-generation version since the hybrid was first introduced in Japan in 1997, joining the Australian market in 2001 – a few months after Honda debuted its own Insight hybrid.

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In 2020, Toyota North America’s head of sales refused to comment on the prospect of a fifth-generation Prius.

Toyota Australia is also non-committal about a next Prius, keeping its future direction vague.

“We haven't really got any commentary around when that may or may not be for the next-generation Prius,” added the company’s product planning and development general manager, Rod Ferguson.

“Just to reinforce that, globally, Prius has a role. It will evolve. It will take on a different mission. But we haven't got any announcements around the timing of the change of model for Prius.”

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Two milestones for Toyota's hybrid sales in Australia reveal the remarkable success of the company’s non-Prius petrol-electric vehicles.

It took Toyota Australia about 18 years to reach 100,000 hybrid sales with its Prius family and the Camry Hybrid.

The company doubled the April 2018 mark in just years after introducing hybrid versions of the Corolla and RAV4 the same year. A petrol-electric variant of the Yaris debuted in 2020 (essentially replacing the Prius C), followed this year by hybrid versions of the Yaris Cross and Kluger.