The battle of green is all set to move into a new battleground the India. While the civic hybrid is already here and soon the prius hybrid may hit the Indian shores soon. Toyota has said it plans to launch the prius hybrid soon in India. “We are preparing to bring Prius into the Indian market though we have not set any timeline yet,” Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd vice-chairman Vikram Kirloskar said. But Toyota will not launch the prius hybrid in a hurry, it will prepare for it. Toyota plans to strengthen the sales and service network for the prius hybrid. “We are aware that Honda is launching its hybrid variant in the Indian market soon despite high import tariff. We can also do it with due preparation. As I said earlier, we have to gear up to service such a premium car by training our personnel and stocking enough spare parts with the dealer network,” Kirloskar said. But again Toyota may follow the Honda’s path, prius Hybrid might be imported as a CBU and that will push the price to the sky. Kirloskar described Prius as a “great car” but admitted it was “expensive upfront”.
“In the long-run, it is economical, with higher mileage and lower maintenance cost. We are confident of its acceptability in the Indian market as it runs both on electricity and fuel.”