Toyota Aqua hybrid makes market debut in Japan

Toyota Aqua hybrid makes market debut in Japan

Toyota last week announced the introduction of the Aqua in Japan, a month after it made its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show. The compact hybrid is the domestic version of the Prius c, and wears a Hybrid Synergy Drive system based around a 1.5 litre engine.

The 1NZ-FXE Atkinson cycle mill offers 74 PS at 4,800 rpm and 111 Nm at 3,600-4,400 rpm, and works alongside an electric motor/Ni-Mh battery combination offering 61 PS and 169 Nm, with combined maximum output being 100 PS. Performance figures include a 0-100 km/h time of 10.7 seconds and a 35.4 km per litre consumption, under the JC08 test cycle.

Toyota Aqua hybrid makes market debut in Japan

Standard safety kit includes ABS, EBD, brake assist, VSC and hill-start assist, and ten exterior colours abound, with four interior accent shades patterns (Earth Brown, Fresh Green, Cool Blue, and Natural Gray) to boot.

The Aqua will be available in three grades, these being L, S and G, with different packages to boot. Pricing starts from 1.69 million yen for the baseline model, which is just under RM70,000. It’ll be interesting to see when UMW Toyota brings this one in – it should be right up there mixing it with the Honda Insight from a price perspective, when it does.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • blackrythms on Jan 03, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    kalau kat Malaysia berapa laa agaknye?

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  • wahedenator on Jan 03, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    better looking than Prius !

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  • Nicivo on Jan 03, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    any idea when UMW will be bringing this car to malaysia? will there be a plug in Lithium battery version available like the prius?

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  • BN=barang naik on Jan 03, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    UMW, please price it under 100k!

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    • vincent on Jan 03, 2012 at 2:09 pm

      They will priced is under 100k, but you get the 1 or no airbag version, take off traction control, EBD, Hill-start assist. Your life ain’t worth it to give you more safety features, that is Toyota style. Kekekkeke

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      • arcana on Jan 03, 2012 at 6:40 pm

        seriously UMW….dont think of cutting spec just becoz u wanna sell it cheap…..the “cut spec to sell cheaper becoz of high tax” does not apply anymore to this car.

        put in some real good specs that the japs are getting and fight at a good price.

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      • JacobKing on Feb 04, 2012 at 10:06 am

        Again, you are just making a silly comment Vincent the childish kid

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    • OMG…nice for the front look, how abt the rear view? if the price below 100K…the sales will better than H.Insight.

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    • Eddieqh on Jan 03, 2012 at 4:27 pm

      It s rm 104,000. Source from umw Toyota!

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      • PakAbu on Jan 03, 2012 at 8:03 pm

        Seriously?

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        • yes make sense, insight priced at 65k in US and where new car tax almost none . sold in malaysia for 99k. so toyota aqua shall be price around 100k. however as many said, smaller than prius but not a bad choice when compared with overpriced vios or city(due to tax) plus very low fuel consumption.

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  • Zippy Polo on Jan 03, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    Dont look nice… remind me of of some species of fish…

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    • HollyFish on Jan 03, 2012 at 1:51 pm

      And now it looks like a slightly more aggressive ‘fish’.

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  • PROdigy on Jan 03, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    Don’t understand why majority of the hybrid cars are hatchback??? Can’t it be a normal sedan car???

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    • gary yap on Jan 03, 2012 at 2:25 pm

      Got sedan, Camry hybrid but with the tax structure of M’sia… *sigh*…

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    • Fukuoka on Jan 03, 2012 at 4:08 pm

      Hatchback design is more aerodynamic than sedan, from the streamline point of view. It reduces the swirl at the rear of the car, thus lowering the coefficient of drag, Cd. As a result, fuel consumption is minimized, which is the main idea of a hybrid car in the first place.

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      • oomph on Jan 03, 2012 at 11:49 pm

        Cd wont affect much in town driving!

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        • Believe me it does. A fraction of a second drag does affect the overall fuel consumption and performance in a long run.

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  • what’s wrong with fish? if you are eating it; its healthy and delicious and if you are not it represents peace and serenity. its all good.

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  • civicEK on Jan 03, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    this is nice! if UMW could price 90k surely it will be a top seller! :D

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  • Jesmond on Jan 03, 2012 at 1:51 pm

    The front looks like Alza….

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  • Jesmond on Jan 03, 2012 at 1:52 pm

    The head lamp looks like Alza….

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  • Stephen on Jan 03, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    When I first look at the front….it remind me of this kinda cute looking original Star War trilogy character

    Lando’s Co-pilot “Nien Nunb”

    http://www.thearchnemesis.com/best-starwars-side-characters.html

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  • Ha Gnih on Jan 03, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    The skyline-like bumper is rather nice……and yes, petrol economy figure is astounding.

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  • gary yap on Jan 03, 2012 at 2:27 pm

    Our petrol prices still not a deterrent to encourage us to use hybrid. Assuming they priced RM100K and below, there are other choices within that price bracket(unless you’re looking at Jap cars only).

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  • wan forte on Jan 03, 2012 at 2:31 pm

    this aqua looks better. i hope toyota can bring it here and price below 80 k . sure meletop one !!

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  • wendy on Jan 03, 2012 at 2:43 pm

    referring to the prius price of japan and malaysia, this Aqua should be around RM95k to RM99k, anything more than that is overpriced, please bring the one with 6airbags, with the price can kill Insight easily.

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    • even that much is overpriced already
      i suggest 85k-90k, with rm20k for umw to cover shipping and profit

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  • Prius for the mom… Aqua for the son/ daughter… Camry Hybrid for the dad… way to go.

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  • This car must sell below Honda Insight, since the price in Japan without consumption tax merely Y1.69m, a way below the cheapest Insight 1.3 Y1.84m.

    Since the cc is different , and being a Toyota we can understand that the price maybe close to the Honda BUT as a fully hybrid, Aqua may entitled more tax privilege.

    Toyota is real cocky if they sell this above Insight.

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    • Abuya on Jan 04, 2012 at 10:34 am

      Ingat Toyota bodoh? If they can sell higher for better profit and the people still buy due to emblem, why they should set a price below insight.

      Sama gak org sembang if tax takde, flx lagi mahal dari vios. If tax takde, of course Toyota akan naikkan harga for better profit. Tengok sajalah P1 and P2. Why P2 all overprice except 660bx

      Takde org meniaga nak buat public service. Semua kepala $$$

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    • yh Inc. on Jan 04, 2012 at 7:20 pm

      You’re kidding me my friend! How can this be cheaper than the cheap Insight?

      Insight is named “hybrid” but not really perform as named! FC is really terrible, better get a normal car instead!

      In addition, this is 1500cc car! The under power Insight is 1300cc car same engine size as Myvi or Saga! But it sales nearly 100K! wao! Please wake up M’sia!

      We should expect this car priced about Vios, but with hybrid technology, price should be higher than that but lower than Altis.

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      • Wisdom on Jan 10, 2012 at 10:59 am

        D u know the terms ‘atkinson cycle’? u better learn rather than teach.

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  • Seriously on Jan 03, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    Can someone kill the interior design for this car?

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  • David on Jan 03, 2012 at 3:07 pm

    heard that it will be here Q1 with 100k range.

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    • bersih on Jan 03, 2012 at 6:04 pm

      80k ok lah~ 1.5L 100k???

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      • arcana on Jan 03, 2012 at 6:43 pm

        80k vios mati terus lu…..somemore this 1 got better performance and consumption than vios…..sure price premium, cilaka.
        at least put in tons of spec to make our RM100k worth it…dammit.

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        • Visitor on Jan 03, 2012 at 7:34 pm

          According to Toyota, the Aqua/Prius c will be equipped with standard technology as in regular Prius i.e. smart key entry, bluetooth connectivity, USB port for iPod and 9 airbags (US spec though). But, there are only three driving modes (Normal, Eco and EV).

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          • malaysian spec will surely only have 2 airbags, and tons of other features emitted
            they should sell it lower than japanese price and add some for shipping and profit, which would translate to around 80-90k

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      • OMG….1.5L for 100K…Ok lah…better than Insight, 1.3L for 98K.

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  • nsfeng on Jan 03, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    Come to Malaysia please!!! Thousands++ waiting! :D

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  • bobby on Jan 03, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    dont like the steering, dont like the console location at the middle

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  • RejimKejamGanas on Jan 03, 2012 at 3:27 pm

    If bring into our local market, nama kene tukar dulu. Then price must also be much lower than Insight, else tak laku. This car is much smaller than Insight.

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  • ss427 on Jan 03, 2012 at 4:11 pm

    Folks, the Prius C is on preorder in SG…

    Here’s the pricelist… No thanks to the stupid COE systems we have here :(

    https://www.borneomotors.com.sg/asp/ToyotaPriceListPassenger.aspx

    Not my cup of tea…I mean car la. It’s actually a new Yaris with a slightly stretched chassis and a premium pricetag… Don’t expect it to offer any big car ride quality since its still based on a small car chassis

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    • COE? Are you over the Causeway?

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      • Rambo Ramsey on Jan 03, 2012 at 6:46 pm

        yes captain obvious

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      • arcana on Jan 03, 2012 at 6:49 pm

        the aqua is more expensive than vios G by about 9-10%.
        so our prices were expecting should be RM90K-RM105K region….
        how’s the tax structure in SG for normal engine and hybrids? or is there tax at all?

        but this car has no tax compared to the vios sold here….
        so should this be cheaper instead?

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        • ss427 on Jan 04, 2012 at 9:17 am

          Hi bro

          yes I’m from the little red dot south of Bolehland.. :) where we the citizens are expected to pay tons of $$ to the gov for some services and products that we can’t even see much less feel them…. :(

          ‘Green’ cars eg hybrids and CNG enjoys special tax rebates here in SG. However with the recent sharp increase of COE, any tax rebates savings has been long overwhelmed by the ultra high COE $$ liao.

          The details are over here
          http://www.lta.gov.sg/motoring_matters/motoring_vo_tax_pte.htm

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        • Vios is 90K.
          Prius is140K
          So Aqua should be 110k. or
          The best price expected is 105k
          Don’t expect it to be lower than 100k.
          That is impossible in Malaysia.

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          • I agree with 123, I anticipate UMW Toyota would put the price at RM105k.

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    • man CT-200 lexus is base on Altis chassis and platform and it really and premium price. i think range 90-100k should ok, feel interior better then insight much more,

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  • pelams on Jan 03, 2012 at 4:39 pm

    i think all hybrid designs r look alike

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  • drool….. i want this car!

    wondering how much here. Hoping considering rakyat…..

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  • Carl Wong on Jan 03, 2012 at 4:51 pm

    Around the price of Honda CRZ at best I think, and Insight facelift is coming soon. Honda is winning all the while for hybrids, Toyota don’t really stand a chance even though fuel efficiency is slightly higher and price is quite high. Boring drive and design for me.

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    • kington on Jan 03, 2012 at 7:08 pm

      Drive wise, the Prius feels better than the Insight.

      and don;t forget the Insight is not a full hybrid. The engine is supported by the battery while the Prius runs the other way round.

      Quite a number of Insight owners have complaiend about the constant cut-off of the air-con during traffic jams and yes, it happens. The trick is actually to leave in N, and engage handbrake.

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    • yh Inc. on Jan 04, 2012 at 7:26 pm

      C’mon my friend! Toyota leads the hybrid technology all the way. Honda is just follower because this is the market trend! Nissan made a right choice which try to skip this hybrid war but straight away go to “0 emmision” vehicle with its Leaf.

      Prius is over-priced here but those people who appreciate the hybrid technology, worth it! Those people who don’t really know about hybrid but attracted by the “cheaper than Prius” mind-set, will then go for Insight. This is comparing Vios with Camry! 1300cc with 1800cc my friend!

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  • sudahlah! on Jan 03, 2012 at 5:08 pm

    is it true that when the hybrid battery of prius ‘kaput’ the car cannot start at all? or it can run using petrol alone after the battery ‘kaput’?

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    • Carl Wong on Jan 03, 2012 at 7:07 pm

      I think so ya, a major disadvantage compared to other mild hybrid system like Honda’s IMA. Which the car can still be driven with the petrol engine alone, and there’s a switch at the back to turn off the IMA system in case of emergencies.

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  • skyjuice on Jan 03, 2012 at 7:13 pm

    you guys forgot about sales tax here… expect extra 20-30% from the real price… =)

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  • RejimKejamGanas on Jan 03, 2012 at 8:00 pm

    Eh, any news on the 3008 Hybrid4? Itu barulah lagi power lagi best!

    The petrol hybrid ones not really jimat, on top of that power pun takde. I’d rather buy a Focus TDCi than any of these petrol hybrids. But if the 3008 Hybrid4 betul-betul coming, wa mau booking satu!

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  • GrrrG on Jan 03, 2012 at 8:10 pm

    Interior wise, I still prefer Prius’s interior if we were to compare the two only.

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  • kadajawi on Jan 03, 2012 at 8:28 pm

    Normally I really don’t like the Toyota design (except for the GT-86 and some Lexus). Especially the hybrids are ugh. But this one actually looks quite good. At least from the front. Interior is still quite bad, but at least the exterior…

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  • RedBeanBun on Jan 03, 2012 at 9:02 pm

    some this is to vs Insight? RM110K?

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  • stupid junk will surely be overpriced at 100k +.

    better buy crz anytime.

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    • just test crz…. it small then believe….behind totally unacceptable at lease u have 3 year old kid….. over-roll 2 seat expensive car

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  • Unforgiven on Jan 03, 2012 at 11:54 pm

    If it’s rm 100k in malaysia, the price is still acceptable, because we don’t expect clean people/business in malaysia, we still need protection anyway, the dirty business will go on until we are free one day, but when?

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  • ‘aqua’ in Hokkien means ‘pondan’. This car will not sell in Malaysia.

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  • winnie on Jan 04, 2012 at 8:37 am

    My BF will buy for me wo :) he says the front light similar to peugot . hehehe i luv it :)

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  • Looks very nice except for the steering… why does it have to look “fat”…

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  • De'Albuqaqi on Jan 04, 2012 at 7:21 pm

    hybrid car tax still waived untill 2013 right? =)

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