The Auris hatchback hybrid version, which is going to be manufactured in the facility at Burnaston, Derbyshire, UK, will be released by Toyota this coming autumn. Since the gasoline-electric drivetrain of the Auris Hybrid Synergy Drive will be shared by the latest Prius, it means that it will come with a 98bhp 1.8L Atkinson-cycle gasoline powerplant and an 80bhp electric power unit.

The Auris will come with a lower price tag because it will be a smaller car and it will not come with lots of equipment. Although Toyota’s hybrid system is more advanced than its competitor’s the Auris will provide Toyota a more direct challenger to the Honda Insight. The Auris hybrid’s lower weight and smaller size could make it Toyota’s cleanest model when it is released this autumn at the Frankfurt motor show, undermining the 87g/km carbon dioxide emissions of the latest Prius. The release of the Auris hybrid will come after the new Prius arrives this month, after which the hybrid version of the RAV 4 will also be launched. These three models, which still come with the same underpinnings, are part of Toyota’s target of reaching 1 million hybrid vehicles per year, thus gaining stronger environmental credentials in the process.

[via autocar]

Tags: auris hybrid news, car news, toyota auris hybrid, toyota news

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 7:29 pm and is filed under 2009, 4wheels News, Automakers, Body style, Categories, Hatchback, Hybrid cars, Toyota, Worldwide, Year, Zone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.