Toyota SAI – New Toyota Hybrid

Toyota are to launch a new hybrid in Japan on 20th October – the Toyota SAI – based on the Lexus HS250.

Update 20/0/09: The Toyota Sai has now been revealed.

We know that Toyota is on a world hybrid car domination quest, but we did think that they were going to launch a new Sub-Brand – Prius – and badge up all their hybrid cars as Prius. But that plan seems to be taking a back seat at the moment. We had confirmation quite recently that there is to be a Toyota Auris Hybrid (made in the UK), and now comes news of a new Toyota hybrid – the Toyota SAI. So much for the Prius sub-brand.

The Toyota SAI is going to launch on the 20th October in  Japan. To all intents and purposes it is a Lexus HS250 under the skin  and features a similar drivetrain to the new Prius, but with a 2.4 litre petrol engine instead of the 1.8 litre in the Prius.

And sadly, that’s about all we have. We don’t have any images of the SAI and nor many details beyond the knowledge that the underpinnings are Lexus HS250 and it launches on the 20th. We don’t even know if Toyota are planning to sell the SAI outside Japan or not.

But we think they almost certainly will.