The 2010 Toyota Prius looks like this

This is it, the 2010 Toyota Prius, the next generation of hybrid vehicle. Apologies for the low-quality picture, but these shots seem to have been taken from some video footage. The images first appeared on PriusChat.com, and once the metaphorical genie was out of the bottle, Toyota stepped in and confirmed on its Open Road blog that this is what the new Prius will look like. It will make its official debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.

At the recent Paris Motor Show, Toyota Europe’s Miguel Fonseca said the new model is going to be sportier. “It will be cleaner, with carbon dioxide emissions below 100 grams per kilometer,” he added. That figure equates to about 2.2 ounces per mile and still is well below the stringent 120 grams per kilometer figure set by the European Union for 2012. “We could have gone lower, but instead we have chosen to give the Prius better performance.”

Note the more conventional positioning of the gear lever (as opposed to being mounted on the dash in the current model). Fonseca says that the Prius will stay with gasoline rather than switch to diesel fuel. And, according to news releases from Toyota, the company is looking at making this model in the U.S., at its Mississippi plant.

-- Colin Ryan

Photos: PriusChat.com

Comments

[william]

Dodge is coming out with a new electric minivan that gets 50 mpg, I was looking at http://www.GetMeADodge.com and actually found out Chrysler says this is the future.

[ease]

I have an '08 Prius and I love the dash mounted gear lever because it allowed me to scoot over to the passenger side without having to go over the center bump. Also no info on whether it'll be a plug-in hybrid. I do like the new position of the screen. Perhaps it won't have as much glare problems as my current one.

[Prii]

As a current Prius owner, I am hardly excited about the 2010 model. I really like the current position of the gear lever, as opposed to the new "conventional" position, which is a waste of space. I also like the current high position of the navigation/info screen, which is easy to keep within eye view while driving - all they had to do is deal with the glare better. Finally, this "built in Mississippi" thing is making me nervous about quality. I am glad others, like Honda, are coming up with similar offerings.

[Cheryl McDonald]

When are they going to give us a design option other than the hatchback??? I have a 2003 and I'm not giving it up until they do!

[Steve Belzer]

Prii- Why should the car being built in Mississippi make you worry about quality? That kind of comment shows a deep disrespect for American workers. The poor quality of American autos over the past few decades isn't the fault of the people working in the plants- it's the fault of the guys in charge choosing to build a poor quality product in the hopes that brand loyalty will keep people coming back for more when their cars break down. It worked too- for a while that is- until people started catching on. Plus, plenty of Japanese and German autos are built in the US- including Subaru (my mom's was built in Indiana) and BMW. You can trust Toyota to design a quality car and provide the training necessary for its workers to build their cars well, no matter where they live.

[Pree Pree Pants]

Prii - your comment is ridiculous about the car being built in America. Many foreign makes are made or assembled in the US to get around auto tariffs and to reduce the cost of shipping the final product. BMW builds the Z4, X3 and X5 in the Carolinas, Mercedes builds their SUVs in Georgia, Toyota builds cars in Detroit, and they all design cars in LA. Isuzu, Range Rover and Mitsubishi are among the foreign makes with awful reliability ratings. You are confusing Honda and Toyota's corporate abilities with the genetic and social makeup of the people working in the factory.

As for the new Prius, I am glad to see they gave it a sportier look and narrowed the wheel wells. The Prius in the family now gets incredibly hot in the summer with the giant windows, and it looks like this version has shrunk that problem down a bit.

[CJ Evans]

What do you do ease? I will make sure to never use your products or services if you don't think the people in Mississippi can make a quality product. Ye of little faith.

Also looks exactly the same on the outside except with the new corporate porpoise face of Toyota.

Also more performance? If I wanted Toyota performance I would buy a Corolla.

Looks like a swing and a miss for the next generation of the current 'media' 'green king', the Prius.

[Blah]

The 2010 Prius has traded its formerly clean lines, for a "TransAm" look, which is not an improvement, IMO. I am really glad they kept it a hatchback.

To the Mississippi defenders: a few years ago there was data published indicating that US-built Camrys were not as reliable as Japanese-built ones. Toyota and other transplants go to great lengths to hide comparative quality studies, I'd guess for a good reason.

Or haven't you noticed, that the American-built Camry was recently taken off the "recommended" list by Consumer Reports, that the BMWs built in SC are either in the middle or "not-recommended", and trucks like the Tundra and the Armada are basically unreliable junk.

American plants have certainly improved and compare favorably with most European plants, but Japanese factories are generally better, whether you like it, or not.

Not good news for the Prius, IMHO.