It has certainly been a big week for hybrid fans, with Toyota launching two new go-green offerings at a go. The Prius c and New Prius rolled in on Monday as integral elements of the company’s new Hybrid Solution theme, and if you haven’t yet caught them in the metal, this weekend is the perfect time to do so.
Both cars – which were teased online just prior to their launch in a ‘Rethink the way you drive’ campaign – will be on display in the showrooms, as part of the Toyota Showroom Weekender in Peninsular Malaysia running from today to Sunday (Feb 24-26), from 9am-6pm daily. The vehicles will be officially available in East Malaysia from March 2 onwards.
The spotlight of course is on the car of the moment, the Prius c. The new B-segment hybrid’s RM97,000 on the road price certainly makes it a very welcome addition to the Malaysian scene, especially for those looking to go green.
To recap our earlier launch story, the 1.5 litre 1NZ-FXE Atkinson cycle mill 73 PS and 111 Nm, combined with the electric motor’s 61 PS and 169 Nm, is good enough to give it a good boost of power. The company says the little one is very much the fun, trendy compact hybrid, a unique proposition and very much an affordable choice. No doubting the latter claims, for sure.
Meanwhile, the New Prius, or facelifted Prius if you will, also rolled in at the same time, and while the thunder pretty much belonged to its smaller sibling, the revised version of the original pacesetter rolls in looking to continue on the impressive ground its predecessor made.
The pricing was maintained for the standard variant, and with a slew of refinements and added features, the facelift should continue to do well enough, very much positioned as the sophisticated sibling in the equation. We’re hoping to get our hands on both cars for a closer look at how they shape up, and hopefully this will be soon.
If you don’t already know everything there is to know about the Hybrid Synergy Drive system, you can find out more about the tech behind the scenes here.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Seen at Cheras showroom. 3 months waiting……
kalau lambat skit mau jadi 6 bulan, toyota ma,,las time honda insight pun tunggu lama, selected colour pulak tu
Buy for bargain….. The best Malaysian should have. Grab one today. Remember quality, remember Toyota. Moving forward. Lets go green and dump your Proton at nearest longkang.
The revision towards car loan had done yesterday. So Prius C can be sold approx 5000 per month. Lets potong the proton
hahahaha..cantiknye bahasa…….
Tapi ermm still pricey…even govt cut taxes for importing new hybrid car..
UMW can sell cheaper but bla bla bla..gomen already assist…
Who is in fault?? Gvnmt or UMW??
Why CKD car oso so mahal, UMW can sell cheaper at least may be around RM10K diff from 1.6 Proton persona…….reason? tech? import partial part from jap? hiring a foreigner? GTH UMW!!
I oso never owned Proton, currently owned recond toyota..
BUT I DID NOT EVER SLAM PROTON…..i am really hoping proton can catch up with jap car..which is proton doing now..imo
LAtely proton did impress me thou….
Thinking getting a proton just in corner..
HIDUP PROTON>>yeay.. (mesti anti-proton tegar dislike ni)..
dont ever support proton, most of commenter only say about interface/gadget…but tukang tarik kereta/tukang repair kereta know proton engine very well, sudah jemu tarik maaa. Current engine also got so many problems already, with turbo engine will cause triple problems, think 100 times b4 buy proton car!!!
Better buy expensive sikit asal tahan lama maaa…
Proton_optimistic, u sure that extra 10k can justify that 10x better built quality and almost like maintenance free toyota car ar? But I agree with you, the current Proton CEO is a smart person compared with the previous corrupted & dumb management and we can see the improvement in many areas…. however when Proton is trying to improve, other manufacturers are also improving too… in the end, Proton will still be few steps behind others unless strategic M&A…. anyway, just came back from the showroom and love the Prius C, everything of Prius C is perfect to me but kinda pricey for me now… sales person said it’s much better acceleration than Vios wor, can’t wait for a test drive already….
proton quality is suck and never succeed. That the main reason after bloody tax, why other brand can sell so high prices. Including produa. Do you realize that?
Not to say dump but definitely worth it to trade iy in for a Japanese Hybrid :].
Stupid chinese mentality….get a VW already…why do you need a hybrid for?
Why do you need a European car for?? Different people have different ‘taste’ and most importantly affordability.
People who can’t afford or not buying still have the right to comment because I think we have freedom of speech to a certain extent here. And there’s no need to insult/offend others…………….
LOL, Toyota – “Moving Foward…….Even if you don’t want”. (Still remember the brake problems causing US Prius recall.)
That is US govern tactic, they dun wan Toyota to dominated their market
No need to potong proton. Not everybody can afford foreign car. Not every foreign car is defect free.
Even worst, some people willing to dump large portion of their monthly income to so-called look good owning foreign brand. I rather choose proton and never miss family trip for holidays.
I take it you have not owned a proton since 88 and you will rather spend a large portion of your monthly income and time at the workshop waiting for it to be repaired.
Nice… Prius C… size same as Yaris???!!!
besides the hybrid tech, I’m impressed on the 7 airbags offered.. all manufacturers (and yes, that includes both P1 & P2) should follow this.
Prius C is RM97,000 too expensive more over about 3-5 years later buyers need to change their Hybrid parts that cost around RM10,000. Better buy Ford Fiesta cheaper, Sportier, Faster and has Voice Control Commands.
If you say RM97,000 is cheap for this pile of metal and plastic, you have to get your head examined. The only reason anybody buys is is that the banks are still giving the loans stretched until the car reaches junk status. Ask around, how many of your friends even have RM10,000 in their bank accounts.
Clearly Malaysians are being hoodwinked by the govenment and its crony, UMW Toyota. This carries on, we’ll be the Greece of Asia in 10 years. Keep it up.
The Prius at around rm140k is still very very very very expensive compare to other country prices even though no taxes!!!!! What’s wrong??? Toyota trying make more from ASEAN to cover loses on Europe issue lately????
Decent technology but if you can afford a real Prius instead of Aqua-Prius, go for it. Rear legroom and headroom too tight. If you’re looking for a small car for urban need this is the one though you’ll never like the low-rent feeling of dashboard and door panels.
If Prius 1.8 priced around RM120,000 the price more reflect JDM pricing for Y2.07m=RM77k. As a comparison, Prius C aka Aqua Y1.61m=RM60.7k; Honda CR-Z Y1.93m=RM72.8k while Honda Insight 1.3 Y1.9m=RM71.66k.
I just wonder why UMW-Toyota can’t “translate” Yen to RM like Honda Malaysia’s pricing. Ideally Prius C should be cheaper substantially than Honda Insight RM99k.
i think UMW just want to protect the Vios market… the current tax and AP prices will still somehow impact the pricing strategy… if they sell at 60-80k, all vehicles selling at this price range sure cannot sell already…. selling at 97k not only can protect their cronies in Proton but also give extra margin to their cronies in UMW… win-win for the cronies but Rakyat that suffer in the end… MALAYSIA BOLEH!!!!
Ask govern dun tax on imported car lo…
is should be better idea right
Just wondering how many kgs/tons of rare earth need to be process at Kuantan in order to built the battery for a Prius.
I understand we use rechargeable battery on our laptop, handphone, but compare to the size of the battery on Prius…..
Japanese took the wrong step to set their direction to hybrid, I support cleaner diesel engine.
BTW no rare earth plant at Kuantan/ Malaysia
Batteries do not us rare earth. Magnets made from rare earth allows smaller but allow more powerful motors to be made. From hand drills to motors in hybrid cars. Even the small speaker in your ear piece uses magnets made from rare earth.
For thinking out off the box: Let’s say you spend RM300 monthly in petrol for monthly travel of between 1500 to 2000km and you actually have RM97k. RM60k you use it to buy a 1.5litre conventional cars like Myvi. The balance you invest in wind farm in Holland.
I think you would end up with net carbon credit where as buying prius c felt better over myv.i it is at best, still at 1/2 of myvi’s carbon debit.
In USA prius C is about RM60k.
saw the prius c at the showroom yesterday. built design is great, like the aerodynamic shape. walkaround, found out tyre alsi MIJ, so this is totally cbu. even the spare tyre n rim same as the other 4 wheels. steering is tilt n telescopic, great adjustment. the seat is manually adjusted, can reach great high level when fully adjusted. seat material is fabric, i would prefer leather here. the display panel is a new look unlike traditional car dashboard meter, may need some getting use to. lots of slots for u to put stuff here n there. the plastic is not up to par, feels like a grade even lower than local cars. for a 97k price level, they shud give better plastic. on the engine part, great tech here n lots of safety features. this holds well for 97k pricing. the salesman there mentioned only 2 prius hv to change batteries since 1997 when it was launch in the states, so that give some assurance to the potential buyers, the battery will not kaput so fast. i am not woried abt that, considering to replace wife car, due to intercity travel. well, let’s c how, wait for jazz hybrid launch then do both test drive to decide.
ironically, some toyota salesman parked their crz in front of the showroom, so many customers taking photograph of the crz just now….
Is that true? Toyota staff driving a Honda CRZ? LOL…..
usually..only customers park in front..
saw the Prius C ystd at cheras Toyota. served by a lady salesperson who does not have any selling skills… the very ugly interior, ugly rear, can even see the fuel hoses from the tyre arch area…. i felt like sitting in a locally made car.
I have checked the price in Japan. True, the basic unit is 1.69M yen. However, at this price, the car has only 2 air-bags, no smart entry, and without other features such as cruise control. I also read a reviewer’s report where he tested a car loaded with many accessories and the price was 2.5M yen. Even the highest grade (1.85M yen), the car has only 6 airbags, not 7. I know that UMW tried to put in more accessories so that they can sell at a higher price to position this car in Malaysian Market due to no tax exemption of other cars. It is relatively expensive compared to the price in Japan, but the difference is probably lowest when compared to non-hybrid cars.
Spec of the Prius c is not too bad, but why rear drum brake? Even Vios has disc brakes for the rear wheels.
disc brakes for vios are only for g spec la. e and j spec are still with drum brakes.
just book new prius luxury. :D
good for you.. others may still think this is too expensive (and that includes me as well LOL).
enjoy the ride bro~
Test drive it at balakong. a bit funny coz no sound heard. Pickup from 0 is ok more or less same as Vios. Boot is small same like myvi or swift i think. Will get it one as new P321a design really disappointing. Somemore, its full hybrid n really suit in KL jam. Cost wise to replace battery according to customer service is 11K and RM85 for labor. but dats for Prius, not Prius C. C could be cheaper. Range to replace battery around 550K Km. Fair enuf for me.
View the actual car in PJ showroom.
Disappointed with the car . Back seat very limited space. Seems smaller than Vios back. Seats very thin to achieve more space. Poor plastic flimsy dashboard. Door is very light. Not solid door. Boot space disppointingly small.
Very expensive for such a small car at 97K. I think may have power problem to go up Genting final few slopes effectively.
Even at 79K I may have to consider very hard. Dispapointed to price Hybrid so expensively. Will stick to normal aspirated non-hybrid cars.
This Prius reminds me of Star Wars most ugliest alien – Sullustan
Prius C, Camry & Altis have optional DVD Navigation but Prius luxury has none? Doesn’t quite make sense, is UMW holding out that option until later this year?
i’ve asked toyota salesman. you can have it. he said have to pay 2990 for the dvd player and navigation for prius.
if you compare prius c optional with 6.1in colour touch screen, dvd player and navigation is 2990 to prius standard comes with 6.1in touch screen, cd player, it is just upgrade cd to dvd and add navigation software. correct me if i’m wrong. what a toyota joke for additional 2990! bloodsucker…