Toyota Considers Sporty Hybrid With Prius Powertrain to Compete With Honda CRZ

By Eric Loveday

Eric Loveday

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Eric Loveday is a car enthusiast with a love for everything automotive. He purchased a 1970 Chevelle at age 16, quickly outgrew its dated engineering... More

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2,472 views May 10, 2009

Toyota MR2 Rendering

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Toyota is currently considering bringing a small, affordable, sporty hybrid to market in the next few years to compete with the upcoming Honda CRZ Hybrid.

The new vehicle could be based on the MR2 according to sources, and would be engineered around the Prius Synergy Drive hybrid drivetrain,  wrapped in a sports car exterior.

The information is unconfirmed at this point, but according to Auto Express, the sporty Toyota hybrid would be rear wheel drive and reach 60 mph in less than 7 seconds all while obtaining more than 50 mpg.

Toyota has hinted about a few aspects regarding the possible model.  Toyota vice president Masatami Takimoto said, "We are developing a small hybrid sports car.  We have set a tough price point, as it will be easier to sell if it is affordable.  It has to be fun to drive too, which means the hybrid set-up must be different than the Prius's, with greater responsiveness."

Other sources at Toyota though would not confirm the plan.  The vehicle, if produced, would be competition to the upcoming Honda CRZ hybrid.  A sportier version of the Honda Insight.

In closing Takimotoa said, "But we haven't decided yet if we would commercialize that kind of product."

This could be a promising product from Toyota offering drivers a chance to save a significant amount of gas without sacrificing as much performance as buyers of other hybrid models usually do.

Source:  Bnet.com, Auto Express