DETROIT (AP) Toyota unveiled a new hybrid concept car that is smaller than the Prius and geared toward younger buyers, part of the company's hybrid and alternative-fuel lineup, which will be expanding over the coming years.
The automaker showed off the FT-CH compact at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Monday and confirmed it plans to expand the Prius from a single model to a family of hybrids.
The FT-CH could be sold under the Prius name, Toyota said.
The plan to broaden the Prius lineup is a sign of its success and of buyers' loyalty to them. The Prius, which debuted in the U.S. in 2000, has long been America's top-selling hybrid and was the best-selling vehicle overall in Japan last year.
"The strategy is still taking shape and obviously it will require additional models to qualify as a family," said Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, a division of Toyota Motor Corp.
Prius models would be marketed together to save on advertising costs, as there could be up to three of them. It costs more than $100 million to launch a model name and win buyer recognition, he said.
"It's much more efficient to market 300,000 or 400,000 vehicles under one brand name than it is to spend the dollars to market two or three model names," he said.
Toyota said the two-door FT-CH, 55 cm shorter than the Prius, is lighter and more fuel-efficient. Its styling, inspired by 8-bit video games popular during the 1980s, is intended to appeal to younger buyers.
The FT-CH, as a concept vehicle, has no official sales or production schedule.
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