Toyota Sai
Toyota is launching a new larger hybrid-only sedan that will be for sale in Japan - the Sai. The Sai is “Prius’ new little brother that is actually bigger” according to The Associated Press. Sai means talent and color in Japanese and will be sold in Japan starting December 7. Currently, Toyota has not decided on global sales of the Sai. Hybrids get better gas mileage because they switch between an electric motor and the gas engine. The Sai will get 23 kilometers per liter, which equates to about 54 miles per gallon. The Sai’s big brother, Prius, get 38 kilometers per liter, or about 90 miles per gallon according to the Japanese mileage test conditions. Toyota is promising that the new Prius will get 51 mpg in the city and 48 mpg on the highway in the U.S. The Sai comes with a bigger engine 2.4 liter engine with the Prius getting a 1.8 liter engine, and supposedly the Sai is fancier and more roomy than its’ big brother. It’s more expensive too. When the Sai goes on sale in December, it will cost about $37,500, which is 3.38 million yen compared to the Prius which costs $22,000 or alittle over 2 million yen. So, I guess I thought I would just let you know about the new hybrid even though we cannot and may never be able to purchase it here in the U.S. I would suspect that if the Sai is a success in Japan that eventually we will see it for sale here. Toyota would be crazy not too, especially because the Prius is the only model that is making any money for them as the company loses money like the rest of the automotive companies.