Toyota Philippines to Launch Prius at P2.25M

Toyota Motors Philippines is finally launching its hot-selling Prius hybrid in the Philippines next week, but the ecologically-correct car could carry a price tag of around P2.25 million.

“Toyota wants to be the first to locally introduce hybrid, environment-friendly cars as alternative vehicles,” said Raymond Rodriguez, Toyota Motor’s first vice president for vehicle sales.

The third-generation, 1.8-liter Prius would be imported completely built from Japan and subject to a 30-percent tariff in addition to the excise tax and 12-percent value-added tax, Rodriguez said in explaining the hybrid’s higher price.

By contrast, Toyota’s most expensive sedan available locally, the 3.5-liter V6 version, retails for P2.005 million.

According to industry sources, the local Toyota has been given an initial allocation of 25 units and another 10 units a month given the three to four months of waiting time for Japanese customers to drive home a new unit.

Targeting the mainstream market, the new model is more powerful than its predecessors, with more headroom, a bigger trunk and better gas mileage.

It is rated at 50 miles a gallon, according to US press reports, 10 miles better than its principal hybrid competition, the Honda Insight.