Toyota improves Prius fuel efficiency

Reuters: Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday its new Prius hybrid would be a fifth more fuel efficient than its predecessor, an upgrade the automaker hopes will boost flagging sales of the environmentally friendly model amid a slump in gasoline prices.

The new Prius, which will be released in Japan in December before being launched overseas, has a listed mileage of roughly 40 km per litre (94 mpg), an improvement from the current version’s 32.6 km per litre, the company said.

The launch, however, comes as petrol prices in the biggest market for the Prius - the United States - are at their lowest in about a decade, pushing consumers to trade in hybrids and electric vehicles in favor of sports utility vehicles.

“When you look at it globally, they haven’t taken off as much, but we are looking to increase their profile as an environmentally sound option,” Chief Engineer Koji Toyoshima told reporters, referring to the model.

According to the latest available figures, August Prius sales in the United States fell 24 percent from the same month a year earlier to 17,757 cars. Last year, U.S. Prius sales totaled 207,372 vehicles.

The Prius may get a boost from the emissions scandal engulfing competitor Volkswagen’s, diesel cars from drivers seeking alternate, fuel-efficient models, analysts say.

“The timing for Toyota in terms of the VW diesel scandal is probably good at least in terms of consumers who are concerned either from the pollution standpoint, or if the favourable tax treatment in euro for diesel goes away,” CLSA senior research analyst Christopher Richter said.

Toyota dominates the gasoline-hybrid car market, manufacturing 8 million of the more than 9 million gasoline-fuelled vehicles on the road globally. Roughly 4 million of those are Priuses.