First look: The all-new Toyota Prius at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2023

Toyota has yet to launch their all-new Toyota Prius locally. But we had an exclusive opportunity to have a poke around a few examples of the car at the Tokyo Auto Salon.

As featured, the example is largely stock on the inside, but does feature some cosmetic add-ons that may not make an appearance on base cars bound for our shores. Ignoring the bodykit, the base car is a significant step-up from the Prius it replaces.

The smooth surfaces of the new car is a stark contrast to the angular concept Toyota opted to adopt for the outgoing vehicle. It also creates a sense of sportiness and a sophisticated flair, gracing this eco-oriented nameplate with some style that it previously never had.

The front fascia genuinely looks very aggressive, almost supercar-like. The rear end sports elements first featured on the second generation Prius, but married with stylistic cues lifted from recent Lexus concept cars.

On the inside, the switchgear and displays are lifted straight from the next generation Toyota parts bin. The cluster, wheel and even most of the centre console switchgear happens to be identical to the assemblies fitted to their bZ4X electric crossover.

We are happy to report that build quality is even better than before, comparable to a current generation Toyota Camry.

No word yet on the outputs for the cars destined for Singapore, but Toyota builds two variants of the regular Prius. If you are Japanese, you can now buy your Prius with either a 1.8-litre powertrain developing 138 bhp, or a 2.0-litre unit with 196 bhp.

We've not driven the car as of yet, but the platform it has been built on — Toyota's TNGA, is also the very same chassis used in the build of the GR Yaris, the bZ4X and the Sienta.

And there reason to believe this would be the best driving Prius yet, as the GR Yaris was a homerun, and journalists globally have all praised the way the latter duo handles, despite their respective SUV and MPV form factors!

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This article was first published in Motorist.