Toyota banks on iQ

Buoyed by the Prius’s win in the passenger car division of Japanese research company IRI Commerce & Technology Inc.’s E-Mileage Awards in March 2009, Toyota Motor Corp. is setting bullish goals for a new hybrid edition of the Prius and another of its new models, the iQ. The new Prius hybrid comes with rooftop solar panels to charge the battery when the car is parked and is equipped with a 1.8 liter engine, 300cc bigger than the old Prius’s engine. It can also travel 35 kilometers on a liter of gasoline. Meanwhile, the small iQ car, Toyota said, seeks to change the belief that bigger is better. The car went on sale November 2008 in Japan and earlier this year in Europe. The company is now looking to present the car to the U.S. market. The iQ starts at ¥1.4 million (US$14,000) in Japan, about ¥330,000 (US$3,300) more than the Vitz subcompact, the Japanese market branding for the Yaris, and targets urban drivers who park and scoot around in tight spaces. Despite its high price, the carmaker touted, iQ sales are holding up on target, at about 3,600 in Europe and nearly 1,800 in Japan in February. (March 26/ April 8, 2009)