2010 Toyota Prius Takes More Aggressive Stance Than Its Predecessors
By Scott Doggett October 16, 2008
Possibly borrowing a tactic from General Motors, which last month "accidentally leaked" photos of the Chevy Volt, Toyota today confirmed the authenticity of three low-resolution photos plastering the blogosphere as being snapshots of the redesigned 2010 Toyota Prius.
At least GM had the good sense to release well-lit, high-resolution pics of its hybrid. Next to the quality image of the current Prius, the images of the 2010 Prius remind one of advertisements for products that help homebodies restore old, damaged photos.
Besides lots of graininess, the photos of the next-generation fuel-efficient Prius don't convey major design changes. No surprise there, given the success of the current generation of Priuses (Prii in some circles).
What is striking is that instead of replacing lines with curves, as designers generally do to improve aerodynamics, the minds that shaped the 2010 Prius actually made is more angular - at least as best we can tell from these lousy images.
That's particularly evident in the front quarter panels. But the doors and the back quarter panels also show a new crease.
Elsewhere, we see that the snout is pointier, the maw of a grille more daunting, the windows longer and shorter, and the headlamps, which resemble the business end of a spade in the current model, have gone hawkish.
The overall effect: an aggressive stance more characteristic of a late-model Celica than any Prius we've seen to date.
Hopefully, more and better photos will be released soon. Otherwise, Toyota says the world debut of the 2010 Prius won't be till January, when the Japanese automaker plans to roll out the fuel-economy king at the Detroit Auto Show.
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