Toyota Corolla hybrid under consideration

During the launch of the new generation Aurion large car, Toyota reaffirmed its commitment to hybrid vehicles, saying it would strengthen its offerings, and that could include the Corolla hybrid.

"It's not out of the question," said Matthew Callachor, Sales and Marketing chief, Toyota Australia, "but you've got to look at what we're doing with the Prius range as well. We've just introduced Prius C; we've repositioned Prius and we're also introducing a Prius V. So now we're starting to cover that gambit right the way through.

Callachor reaffirmed Toyota's position to grow its hybrid line-up in Australia, but wouldn't be drawn on whether we'll see a Corolla hybrid in the short term.

"We will expand the hybrid range into the future. But that's all I can say at the moment.

"We do see hybrid as a valid powertrain in its own right, not simply as a transition point to hydrogen or whatever. It's now a proven technology with a number of vehicles on the road, running around worldwide.

"We have Prius' up north as taxis and they've got 600,000km on them, same batteries in them. So the reliability component of it is working out. And they're still producing fuel economy and the reliability they were when they were brand new."

Toyota builds the Camry hybrid in Australia, a vehicle that shares its underpinnings with the Aurion, which begs the question, is a petrol-electric Aurion in the wings? Callachor said it was unlikely with "No plans at this moment" to develop such a vehicle.

The Aurion sells in smaller numbers than its Camry counterpart and like Commodore and Falcon its long-term future is far from guaranteed, particularly as the large car market continues to contract. In a 'worst case scenario' Toyota said the Aurion project could be shut down and replaced by a reborn Camry V6 model.

"It's not impossible further into the future, but at the moment the current course we're on is to stick with Aurion. Certainly in this foreseeable model cycle," stated Callachor.