An interview with the Toyota Prius C's Assistant Chief Engineer, Mr. Masahiko Yanagihara (MY), was conducted at Zouk, where the launch of the all new compact hybrid hatchback was held. Alongside with him were his translator and fellow working associates.

SGCM: We understand that there is the Prius V, Prius and now, the Prius C. What is the next Prius variant we can expect to see and when will that be?

MY: Borneo Motors plans to create cars that are segmented according to their sizes. We have already introduced the large and the medium-sized one which are the Lexus GS Hybrid and Toyota Camry Hybrid respectively. And now with the launch of the Toyota Prius C, we have succeeded in reaching our goal. Hence we have no plans for the next variant just yet. But this doesn’t mean that we will stop working on the next Prius variant.

SGCM: That’s good to hear. I’m sure Prius fans will be more than happy to hear this. However, I’m not too sure if the idea of using nickel hydride battery for the Prius C will please buyers. Why wasn’t the lighter and more powerful lithium ion battery part of the plan for the car?

MY: We (Japan) are currently facing issues of producing sufficient lithium ion batteries to meet the high demands in Japan. But we are trying to gradually increase the supply of these batteries to solve the problem.

SGCM: What kind of problems are we talking about here?

MY: There are 120,000 orders of the Prius C a month in Japan. But we only planned to sell 10,000 units a month. Right now, we are trying to increase the production of the Prius C to 20,000 units a month to meet the high demands of the car in Japan. Customers who have ordered the car will, thus, have to wait up to six months before getting it.

SGCM: With astonishing figures like these and knowing that Toyota has been an avid implementer of hybrid technologies, can we expect sportier variants such as the upcoming GT86 to join the hybrid line-up as well?

MY: Not at the moment, or at least not that I have heard of.

SGCM: What is the direction for future Toyotas in embracing eco-friendly technologies?

MY: There are four different eco-friendly technologies we are working on for our cars. We have the hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and fuel-cell hydrogen. Both hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars are more suited for long distance travelling whereas electric cars will be more suited for city driving. As for fuel-cell hydrogen cars, we are still in the process of working on the technology.

According to Toyota, the Prius C targets both the younger and elderly market of 20 to 30 years of age and 60 years old and above respectively. It competes against gasoline hatchbacks such as the Volkswagen Golf 1.4, Volkswagen Polo 1.4 and Honda Fit. The only hybrid competitor is the Honda Insight.

Mr. Yanagihara was appointed as the Assistant Chief Engineer in 2007 with the Toyota Passenger Vehicle Department Center 2 ZF Group, participating in the new Prius C as a Project Manager of body engineering and fuel consumption. He is very proud that his team and him were able to provide hybrid technology, style, dynamic drivability and user-friendly features in a compact package.