2023 Toyota Prius teased again before its debut in 2 days
Short of a miracle, 2022 will be the lowest-selling year for the Toyota Prius in a couple of decades, if not ever. The car that ushered the industry into hybrid powertrains the same way Tesla has led the industry to go electric only sold about 30,000 units in the U.S. through the end of October. That’s about half last year’s total of 59,010 units, well down from the roaring years of 2007 to 2016 when dealers moved anywhere from about 150,000 to 240,000 units every year. It’s time for something new, which we’ll see this coming week when the Prius debuts in Japan. The automaker’s released a new teaser to keep the flame alive until then, previewing the lighting signature and shape from head-on.
From the front, all this proves is that the new hatch will definitely have headlights like the Japanese-market Crown Sport Type crossover. The lights set into the shaded form make the coming Prius look wider than the current model, and the windshield appears more steeply raked. These could merely be distortions in the image, though.
The other shot is of the C-pillar, and this presents a very different look to today’s car. The glasshouse on the 2022 Prius sweeps from roof to high-rise tail like a fastback. The rear windows extend to the front of the C-pillar, the entire pillar blacked out in a way that leaves the impression of a floating roof. The teased image of the new Prius C-pillar shows what looks like sheetmetal making a complete arc to the rear, eliminating the floating roof. And it’s hard to tell, but it could be that the trailing edge of the rear window is opaque. It’s certain that the rear fenders take different shapes over the rear wheels, the current car’s upswept shoulder replaced by something the looks like traditional, punched-out arches.
The reveal happens at 1:30 p.m. Japanese time November 16, which is November 15 at 11:30 p.m. on the U.S. East Coast.
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