Accidental hero

“THE Prius was never meant to be successful!” So said Bill Reinert, Toyota’s US national manager of its Advanced Technologies Group, and one of the driving forces behind the globally popular hybrid.

Mr Reinert has revealed that the Prius was only supposed to be a test-bed as well as a litmus test for future technologies.

“It was meant to break the ice on certain things,” Mr Reinert laments.

“The idea was not to make it an icon.” As a result of the Prius’ global success, Mr Reinert has warned that the next model, due out in about 2009, may well be a very different machine to the sole five-door hatchback model it is today.

Speculation is rife that Toyota – afraid of distancing the growing number of mainstream buyers away from the Prius – is devising a sort of Prius ‘brand’ that will encapsulate a number of different shapes and sizes.

Mr Reinert is concerned that by pleasing all, the next Prius may become a dilution of the current model’s core strengths. “It’s probably the worst thing that happened to it… because it might mean that we don’t take chances with it,” Mr Reinert reveals.



Left: Lancia Beta 1.3 1975-79.



“It was meant to be a low volume car that we could take chances with, that we could do things with.

“And if it wasn’t successful, then, heck, it’s not like we screwed up the Camry.” According to Mr Reinert, today’s Prius – launched in 2003 – betrays much of the thinking behind its car-enthusiast parentage with very un-Toyota lines.

He suggested that the styling may have been inspired by the 1970s Lancia Beta, a four-door fastback sedan from Italy – especially when both models are viewed in silhouette.

“The distinctive styling (is not there) to be funky or funny, but so that we could try different styling concepts on it,” said Mr Reinert.

The Prius is also useful for trying non-hybrid-related new technologies.

“Remote keyless entry, the (satellite) nav system, shift-by-wire… all that stuff was all pioneered through the Prius for Toyota.

“That’s what it was designed to do. Yeah, it was a hybrid, but the hybrid was only one of the many unique features on the car.” It is worth noting that the senior Toyota America executive is car-crazy himself, owning a not-very-environmentally sound six vehicles, including a 1960s MGA (albeit with a modern Toyota petrol powerplant), a 1970s Fiat Dino Spider and a 1984 Porsche 911. Mr Reinert insists that not in Toyota’s wildest dreams was the Prius meant to become a fashion statement and global environmental icon. “It only accidentally became that,” he said.