In the automotive industry, leaks about an upcoming product normally fall into two categories: genuine mess-ups, or a purposeful, pr-driven leak designed to give a new car extra attention.
But we the latest leak from Japan -- an entire Toyota Aqua Hybrid sales brochure -- falls squarely in the expletive-generating first category.
Leaving schadenfreude aside, the scanned brochure details everything about the new sub-compact hybrid, from its dimensions and fuel economy to the options list.
Not due to officially be unveiled until the Tokyo Motor Show in December, the smallest of Toyota’s hybrids is only 157.3 inches long, 66.7 inches wide and 56.9 inches tall, with a wheelbase of just 100.4 inches.
Power will come courtesy of a 1.4-liter gasoline engine delivering 74 horsepower at 4,800 rpm, and an electric motor capable of producing 45 kilowatts.
Economy wise, Toyota’s brochure says that the c-segment hybrid achieves a fuel economy of 35.4 km/L on the JC08 test cycle.
As the dailytech points out, while the Japanese fuel cycle tests are notoriously more optimistic than the EPA’s own fuel cycle tests, the 2012 Toyota Aqua Hybrid is given a rating by Toyota which is 16% more than the official Japanese JC08 fuel economy ratings for the 2012 Toyota Prius Hybrid.
Bearing that in mind, we’d expect a U.S. EPA rating of between 58 and 64 mpg.
Decidedly sportier than the 2012 Toyota Prius Hybrid, 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid and 2012 Toyota Prius V, the Toyota Prius Aqua is squarely aimed at younger buyers wanting a fun but fuel efficient ride.
As part of that transition, the now-ubiquitous Prius gear-selector and parking brake has now been replaced with a more conventional centre-mounted automatic-style gear shift and hand-operated parking brake. This makes Toyota’s new hybrid a lot more conventional to drive and a whole lot less geeky.
We’ve contacted Toyota directly about the leaked brochure, but at the time of writing it hasn’t released an official statement. Given Toyota’s habit of not confirming leaks like this, we think we’re unlikely to hear anything more until December’s Tokyo Motor Show.
Either way, Toyota isn’t expected to bring the 2012 Aqua to the U.S. until spring 2012 at the very earliest.
+++++++++++
