2010 Lexus HS250h Pricing: Is It Really An Upscale Alternative To The Prius?

By John Voelcker

John Voelcker

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John is Senior Editor for High Gear Media. In addition to news coverage and new car reviews, John creates and oversees all editorial for High Gear's... More

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2010 Lexus HS 250h

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While it's not actually a Prius, we've written before that the 2010 Lexus HS250h can be viewed as the upscale big brother of the 2010 Toyota Prius. The two cars share components, Hybrid Synergy Drive technology, even the little triangular front quarter windows.

With pricing for the Prius now released and the first cars arriving in dealerships around now, we're curious as to how Lexus plans to price the new small four-door sedan.

And as Bengt Halvorson writes on our sister site TheCarConnection.com, Lexus faces something of a challenge in pricing the HS250h high enough to distinguish it from the top of the Prius range, but low enough to attract buyers from the top end of the Prius range.

After all, the HS arguably conflicts with the current entry-level Lexus, the 2009 Lexus ES 350 sedan. But they're very different cars, and perhaps the HS even defines a new subcategory. Anyone for an "entry-level luxury hybrid"?

So since this site is posed primarily to Prius buyers (and owners!), we want to ask a slightly different question than Bengt did. He ended with a request for thoughts on base price, but we're more interested in the crossover between Prius and HS shoppers.

So, if you're considering a new 2010 Toyota Prius, what are the pros and cons of the more luxurious, slightly less techy 2010 Lexus HS250h?

And, will you cross-shop them at all (that is, seriously weigh one against the other)? Let us know in the comments.

2010 Toyota Prius

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