Forget it’s a hybrid, forget it gets great fuel economy and is much ‘greener’ than other cars on the market. Instead, the marketing message for Toyota Motor Europe’s fully redesigned Prius will be simply “this is a great car”.
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So said Toyota Motor Europe head of sales Thierry Dombreval in an interview with just-auto.com deputy editor Graeme Roberts at the car’s static launch in Brussels.
“The number one step in terms of strategy change is how we want to position the car,” Dombreval said.
“The number one task is to communicate that this is a great car. Almost I would say, regardless of powertrain, this is a great car. Designwise, exterior, interior, roadholding, NVH, this is a great car.
“It is also the greenest car you can purchase worldwide, it’s a huge step forward in terms of environment friendliness compared with the previous generation and also in driving pleasure and driving feel.”
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By GlobalDataDombreval described marketing the new Prius as “a huge task” because, in Europe, the Prius name is unknown and hybrid technology is unknown.
TME will, he said, do its best to make the car both ‘normal’ and ‘special’. By ‘normal’, he means it will be pitched as a car that the average D-segment buyer will want to include in his shopping short list. By ‘special’, the marketers will ensure that environment-conscious potential purchasers “just cannot ignore” the newcomer.
“We are trying to formulate our messages in a simple way,” Dombreval said. “CO2 is the big greenhouse gas factor and we need to explain that because most people do not know.
“Now, what does Prius do to you? Prius reduces CO2 emissions, or CO2 production if you wish on an annual basis compared with best-in-class D-segment diesel by one tonne.
“Is one tonne meaningful?” Dombreval asked, before answering his own question.
“If you look at the long-term predictions of CO2, like 2100, which may sound irrelevant today but a baby born today is likely to have a lifetime of 90 years if not 95. So a baby born 10 years from now certainly will be enjoying the environment of 2100.
“Is it important to make sure that CO2 is going to be kept under control? Yes it is. Is it important not to wait? Yes it is. Does hybrid make sense until fuel cell is really marketable? Yes. And why is that? Because fuel cell will not be marketed in any significant volume before 2015. So can we stand still in between? No we can’t.
“So the communication effort will have to be very rigorous and very tenacious. We haven’t been convincing and tenacious enough with the previous car because we – collectively – were not turned on by the previous car.
“The new car has the ability to turn people on and that’s going to make a big difference. We feel very passionate about that car.”
On the basis of a look ‘n’ touch examination, Dumbreval’s new baby has at least a fighting chance. From a small, rather strange-looking sedan – and northern Europeans don’t much like sedans – it has grown into a decent-sized hatchback with greatly improved rear legroom though width still seems a bit tight and rear headroom is compromised for six footers by a swoopy new roofline.
Interior design and materials are much improved and there are all the latest gadgets including keyless entry, start and go.
Styling is sophisticated and modern but closer to a new Nissan Altima or Maxima than an Audi A4 so it will be interesting to see what European buyers think of the very Japanese looks – you would not think this car came from the same company as makes the new European-designed Avensis.
In terms of driver enjoyment, we will for now have to take Toyota’s word on the roadholding and NVH but performance looks to have greatly improved.
The all-new hybrid system delivers 1.5 times greater electric motor power (50kW-68hp/1,040-5,600rpm) and 8% more petrol power (57kW-78hp/5,000rpm).
As a result, the new generation Toyota Prius has boosted top speed and 0-100km/h (62mph) acceleration below 11 seconds, almost three seconds faster than the current generation car.
This at least level pegs it with many of the turbodiesels with which it will surely be compared by the environment-conscious or, it must be said, those company car tax or congestion charge payers looking for a break more for their wallet pockets than for trees.
TME will officially launch the Prius to potential European buyers at the Frankfurt motor show and sales will begin in autumn.
