Toyota Dedicated Hybrid Concept Official Teasers

Toyota will unveil a new hybrid concept car at the 2010 North American International Auto Show but, until now, no official details have been released. However, the Japanese manufacturer rolled out two teasers giving us a glimpse into how the future hybrid will look like but even so, only a little can be speculated about the car.

Still, we're curious whether this is the affordable hybrid Toyota's officials were talking about earlier this year. At that time, several Toyota representatives said the company is considering developing a lower-priced hybrid that would be able to compete with other hybrids, including Honda's Insight that is currently seen as the main rival of the Prius.

"We are developing a low-priced hybrid vehicle like Honda's Insight," Akihiko Otsuka, chief engineer of the redesigned, third-generation Toyota Prius, said in April. "We are going to compete by expanding our hybrid-vehicle lineup to smaller hybrids, in the class of the Vitz and Yaris," he said without providing details on the official launch date.

The Japanese manufacturer is already pondering several hybrid versions of its models and plans to increase sales in this particular area using several programmes meant to attract more buyers.

For instance, the company announced earlier this year a new certification program that attests the quality of its hybrids.

“The program is a great way to increase awareness of certified used hybrid vehicles," said TCUV Marketing Manager, Steve Gallagher. "As more hybrids enter the used vehicle marketplace, Toyota Certified Hybrids offer high-quality options to customers interested in purchasing these fuel-efficient vehicles."