Submitted by Hans on Tue, 10/01/2012 - 9:35am
The relentless pace of UMW Toyota starting the year with a bang is shifting up another gear. Right after yesterday's announcement of estimated prices for the new Toyota Avanza and Prius c, this morning we were informed that order taking for the Prius minor change (facelift in Toyota lingo) has started at all Toyota sales outlets nationwide. At the time of posting this, UMW Toyota's website has yet to be updated with details of the new Prius. However, the price list and sales leaflet can be obtained at all Toyota sales outlets nationwide starting from today.
Compared to the current Prius (RM 139,000), there is a slight increase in price and an additional variant on offer. The new Prius now starts at RM 143,000 for the standard grade and RM 148,000 for the 'Luxury' grade. Before buyers lynch UMW Toyota for engaging in another round of price hikes, note that the increase in price applies worldwide, including Toyota's home market in Japan. Late last year, I have also posted a short explaination that this was because of the unusually strong Yen and increase in prices of rare earth materials and steel sheets.
The updated Prius can be differentiated by its slightly different different lower front air dam / grille, new tail light cluster and LED daytime running lights. Below is a comparison between the outgoing pre-facelift Prius and the current Prius.
Pre-facelift Prius (front three-quarter). European market model shown.
Facelifted Prius below (front three quarter). European market model shown.
Pre-facelift Prius (rear three-quarter). European market model shown.
Facelift Prius (rear three-quarter). European market model shown.
The additional RM 5,000 for the Prius Luxury grade gets you leather seats, auto-dimming rear view mirror and LED projector headlamps.
The Honda Insight facelift is also expected to be introduced soon, having already debuted in its home market in November last year. However like the Prius, do expect a slightly increase in price. Both Honda and Toyota are facing the same circumstances of unfavourable currency exchange rates and high raw material cost.
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