Teaser photos of Toyota Prius verified

Toyota's international PR team has 'outed' the next generation Prius to Jalopnik.com. According to the guys at Jalopnik, the subject of the pictures reproduced here is the 2010 model Prius, scheduled to go public at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit three months from now.

This news comes to light barely two weeks after the Honda Insight was unveiled at the Paris motor show and the cynical among us would argue that the 'leak' could hardly be a coincidence. The pictures were originally published on a Prius forum and were picked up there by various blog sites.

Looking much like someone has grafted a Corolla hatch front end to a current generation Prius, the new car doesn't appear particularly ground-breaking, but the cars have been repeatedly caught by spy photographers undergoing hot-weather testing in the US and the word is that the new model is more than just a facelift of the current model.

Although yet to be confirmed, it's believed the new Prius will be about 25mm wider than the existing model, which should liberate extra shoulder room inside.

Overseas sources suggest the current 1.5-litre engine will be replaced by a new 1.8-litre motor with around 85kW (compared with 57kW for the former). Also new will be an optional solar roof that will generate energy to help power the air-con and other ancillaries.

The Prius will reportedly retain conventional nickel-metal-hydride batteries, but lighter, more efficient lithium-ion batteries are in the works for future versions, including the plug-in model due for an international launch in 2011.

Toyota's hybrid hatchback has found a strong following in the US, and it's carved a distinct niche for itself here as well, with 2617 sales to its credit during the first nine months of this year (compared with 2398 for the same period last year). The fact that sales have increased this year even though the model is now four years old suggests the hybrid genre is slowly gathering steam locally.

The Carsales Network contacted Mike Breen, Toyota Australia's Manager - Public Relations for comment.

"I can't officially confirm that that is the car," he told us, when asked whether the pictures did depict the new car, but he did say that the new Prius would be here much sooner than 2010, as suggested in the Jalopnik article.

"It will be actually launched in Australia mid-2009," he said.

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