Toyota Motor Sales USA announced that the company will halt production of the Prius next month. A Prius replacement is expected, but that’s still a year away. Toyota didn’t say why exactly they came to their decision, but one theory suggests the low gas prices and high levels of competition have made the Prius a less than desirable option.
True enough, despite nearly every major car producer offering a hybrid option, sales of hybrid vehicles have been largely unimpressive in the United States. Sales of cars there are rising, even for Toyota who sold 780,000 cars so far this year. Competitor cars, like the Tesla Model S, Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt offer more updated platforms and can travel further on nothing but electricity. The current Prius, which was introduced in 2012, can do pure electric drives, but range is limited to a measly 60km. The 2016 replacement by Toyota will in all likelihood be all-electric and return at least 300km of fume-free travel.
It’s not as if Toyota is moving away from hybrid powertrains. In fact, they have been busy expanding their portfolio with the introduction of a hybrid version of the RAV4 SUV in the US and the 2.5L Camry Hybrid here in Malaysia. It’s important to note that there’s no indication that they’ll stop selling the Prius outside of the US.
