Auto car sports

With a simple tweet on its Twitter page that said " Next member of the #Prius family (to be revealed at Detroit Auto Show) will be all-new model w/ more comfort, style and versatility ", Toyota announced that the world premier of its highly anticipated Prius Minivan will take place at the forthcoming Detroit motor show in the second week of January, 2011. The as-of-yet unnamed minivan will be the second Prius-badged hybrid in Toyota's range, while the company has already revealed plans to extend the Prius family with a third model that will be smaller than the current five-door liftback. Both the smaller and larger Prius-branded hybrid-electric vehicles are scheduled to go on sale in the States by 2013. The Japanese firm recently teased the Prius minivan with a billboard pictur e located in Malibu, California. Now, we also have a video from the making of the billboard that you can check out below. According to a Carscoop eye-witness that snagged a camouflaged prototype ...

It came from San Francisco Bay. A hybrid killing driving machine with a singular purpose: to destroy mankind to further the cause of safe motoring. A Toyota Prius infused with advanced technology that allows it to kill without remorse drive itself and created by the Devil himself Google! Pardoning that brief flight of fancy, here's the real scoop: Google is working on an automated / driverless car with the help of DARPA Challenge luminaries Chris Urmson and Anthony Levandowski. Mr. Urmson was the technical team leader on CMU's 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge winning entry, whilst Mr. Levandowski built the world's first autonomous motorcycle for the DARPA Grand Challenge as well as an automated pizza delivery vehicle. Though still in the experimental stages of development, Google's test vehicles have covered 140,000 miles (225,300 km). Their unpiloted yet still manned Priora (that's the plural of Prius, dontchaknow) have travelled from their Mountain View campus to the...

Just before the grand opening of the Paris Motor Show at the end of September, we brought you the first spy pictures of the Prius minivan (or MPV), which was snagged in California by Carscoop reader Nick K. Since then, Toyota not only confirmed the car at a dealer conference in Las Vegas last week, but the Japanese automaker also put up this billboard that shows the Prius MPV hiding behind the current Prius liftback with the tagline "The Prius family is getting a whole lot bigger." The billboard picture was uploaded on the company's dedicated Toyota Prius Facebook page. According to Autonews, Toyota execs told dealers at the Las Vegas conference that the minivan version of the Prius will be joined by a smaller Prius-badged hybrid model, with both cars scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. by 2013. The report added that within the next 18 months, Toyota / Scion dealers will also see a redesigned Camry, the Scion iQ minicar and the production version of the FT-86 rear-wheel ...

Carscoop reader Nick K. had an opportunity to snag what may very well be the first spy photos of the long-anticipated minivan version of the Prius, rumored to be called the Prius Alpha. Spotted out in California following a new Lexus CT200h with its logos covered, the camouflaged minivan seen here - said by Nick to be "about the size of a Mazda 5" - appears to be wearing a Prius-esque front fascia and doesn't look to fit anywhere else in the lineup. As you can see in our photo gallery after the jump, the minivan and the Prius also seem to share a similar design for the windshield, front window line and tail lamps. If earlier reports from Reuters and Japan's Nikkei daily are correct, the Prius MPV will end up housing three rows of seats with space for up to seven passengers and be powered by in-house developed lithium-ion batteries (which may later be manufactured with help from Panasonic). As we recently told you , Toyota Executive VP Takeshi Uchiyamada hopes to laun...

Toyota today revealed it will begin manufacturing its Prius hybrid in Thailand starting from November. The car will be built at the firm's Gateway Plant, near the Thai capital Bangkok, where it also makes the Corolla, Camry, Camry Hybrid and other models. Thailand will be the third country to make Toyota's popular hybrid after Japan and China. The company said the decision was made as part of its effort to further popularize hybrid vehicles worldwide. Toyota Motor Thailand Co. President Kyoichi Tanada commented: "With its excellent environmental performance, design and advanced technologies, we hope the Prius provides even more people in Thailand with the joys of driving." Toyota did not reveal how many Prius vehicles will be built at the Thai plant, but a company spokesman said production is for the local market. Launched in 1997, the Prius hybrids cumulative global sales surpassed the 2 million mark at the end of September this year. Toyota said it aims to sell 1 mi...