Gasgoo.com (Shanghai August 29) - Despite the withdrawal of government subsidies and shortages in the domestic electric battery market, FAW Toyota's third-generation Prius is still scheduled to be manufactured in China on schedule, the Beijing News reported today. According to sources from within the joint venture, the hybrid version of the Prius will hit the market next year, with the chance that it might carry a lower than expected price tag. There are still no plans to domestically manufacture the plug-in electric style Prius, however.

Su Tao, enterprise planning director for the joint venture's sale division, is confident that starting domestic production of the Prius will help slash its price greatly. Mr. Su said that if they were able to slash the price by 40,000 yuan ($6,294), it would already be a great achievement for the JV. He added that FAW Toyota's chief goal was to help build the brand, and that sales were a secondary consideration.

However, Mr. Su admitted that reducing costs would be quite difficult, as the Prius is very much targeted towards specific segments of the market.

Source:gasgoo