Toyota ups fuel efficiency of hybrid Prius sedan

TOKYO, Aug 6 Reuters reported that Toyota Motor Corp, said on today it had improved its hybrid gasoline-electric Prius sedan to make it the most fuel-efficient five-seat passenger car on the domestic market.

Under Japanese government fuel economy tests, the new Prius does 31 km per litre, or 73 miles per gallon, outstripping rival Honda Motor Co's Civic hybrid at 29.5 km per litre.

The previous Prius obtained 29 km per litre.

Toyota and Honda are the world's only automakers to sell hybrid vehicles which combine an internal combustion engine with an electric motor to make them twice as fuel efficient as ordinary cars of the same size.

Honda's aerodynamic Insight two-seater, designed specifically for maximum fuel efficiency rather than practicality, remains the leading vehicle in fuel economy race, getting 35 km per litre.

U.S. fuel efficiency standards are, however, quite different from Japanese standards. Under U.S. standards, the previous Prius gets 48 miles per gallon, or 20 km per litre..

The minor model change for the Prius announced on Tuesday is only aimed at the domestic market but company executives have also said they are planning a new version of the car for the U.S. market.

Launched in 1997, the Prius was the world's first hybrid car.

Toyota has set itself a goal of producing 300,000 of the eco-friendly hybrid vehicles a year by 2005 or 2006.