Automotive Trends

      Toyota took great pains to remind us that it was the pioneer in the industry and proved its commitment to that segment by unveiling the production version of the Prius c. Toyota claims the ‘c’ stands for ‘city.’ The intent of the Prius c is to offer the most efficient and lowest priced member of the Prius family. With a starting price of under $19,000 the Prius c is actually less expensive than the original Prius that debuted more than 10 years ago. The ‘c’ promises an impressive 53 mpg in city driving and 46 mpg on the highway. We found this to be an attractive addition to the Prius lineup and hope that it may have more enticing driving dynamics than the sterile standard Prius. Unfortunately, acceleration doesn’t sound promising with the 1.5L four combining with the electric motor for a total of 99 hp. We were not so impressed with our first look at the interior plastics, but we should withold final judgment until we are able to drive one of these cars.  Read more…