Two weeks ago, Toyota confirmed that it would offer more than one body style for its Prius hybrid-electric vehicle.
Now, in Japan, the company has introduced a Toyota version of the car we know here as the 2010 Lexus HS250h. That car, the first "dedicated hybrid" from Lexus, was launched in Japan in July.
2010 Toyota Sai, image taken on mobile phone by ScionLife forum member JDMJim
The 2010 Toyota Sai goes on sale three weeks from now, on October 20. It is Toyota's second "dedicated hybrid"--a car with no gasoline-only counterpart--after the Prius.
It will have a larger engine than the 1.8-liter unit in the Prius, presumably the same 2.4-liter four mated to the Hybrid Synergy Drive system used in the HS and the 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid.
The company is being fairly tight-lipped about details of the Sai, including pricing.
The only photos we have were taken in Japan from a company brochure (with a mobile phone). They show a car with styling almost unchanged from the 2010 Lexus HS250h, with far fewer differences than earlier sketches from Japanese sources.
Still, a Japanese dealer told Automotive News that the Toyota Sai would have a different interior than the Lexus HS.
We're forced to wonder: Will the Sai spawn a 2011 Toyota Prius sedan? Toyota will not say. Stay tuned to AllAboutPrius.com, and we'll bring you details as we get them.
Toyota SAI
[Automotive News (subscription required); Toyota Sai images from ScionLife member JDMJim]
