Toyota to Build a Prius Coupe?

While the rumors of a whole brand of Prius from Toyota, similar to what we have seen with Scion, are still unproven and unverified by the company, more credible rumors are ramping up about more variants of the popular Prius, mainly in the form of a Prius coupe.  When the Prius hit the market, it was the only real option in its class, and while cars like the Civic Hybrid came along, the Prius was relatively unchallenged.

However, with the Chevy Volt nearing production and already discussing smaller and short range offerings of the plug-in hybrid, and with Honda debuting its new Insight, Toyota will be feeling pressure to keep the Prius atop the segment.  They have discussed items like solar panels mounted on the roof in order to help power the electronic accessories like the stereo and the air conditioning, but Toyota knows that they need more to stay in the lead in this budding market.  They might do this by following the rumors from GM, and offering more compact versions of the Prius, and while the coupe wouldn’t offer the cargo or passenger space that the current Prius does, a smaller two door model may appeal more to younger buyers and could potentially get better mileage.

There is no information from within Toyota to either suggest or deny these rumors, but with the marketing opening up and the idea of a Prius brand coming to the States, it would be shocking not to see a smaller version of the Prius in the near future.