The 5th-generation Toyota Prius debuted in late 2022 featuring superb looks, new powertrains, and an updated TNGA platform that vastly improved handling - creating the most driver-focussed Prius ever, in contrast to the efficient runabouts all its predecessors were. That said, you wouldn't peg it to do a fast lap around a racing circuit, would you? That didn’t stop Top Gear UK from trying though, and by golly-gosh, did it look spectacular. In a recent review, they set out on the longest Uber rid

Toyota is not a frivolous attention seeking company. Everything that the company does needs to be justified by strong business rationales, supported by market demand data. And yet, Toyota hosted the Southeast Asian debut of the fifth generation Toyota Prius in Bangkok earlier in March, despite having no immediate plans to launch the hybrid-exclusive model in this part of the world. Nine months after the Bangkok Motor Show, Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda’s privately owned OCR Rookie Racing team adde

A Toyota Prius is not a car that you would normally associate with motorsports. But did you know that since 2012, the Toyota hybrid has been competing in Japan’s Super GT under a privateer team Apr Racing, with the standard car’s hybrid system retained? Toyota has since announced that a Toyota Prius will be participating in a 10-hour endurance race in Thailand’s Chang International Circuit in Buriram, at this weekend’s Idemitsu Super Endurance Southeast Asia Trophy 2023. The Prius will race unde

Japan has one of the highest fuel prices in the world. Despite it being home to many of the world’s biggest automotive names, Japan actively discourages the use of personal cars, especially in the city. To promote public transport – as any sustainably developed country should – Japan imposes two types of taxes on petrol – consumption tax (similar to GST) and petrol tax. Fuel prices in Japan now average around RM 5.40 per litre for regular petrol (RON 89 to RON 95), and RM 5.75 per litre for high

If you try to understand Japanese society from the perspective of Western pop culture, then you would think that oyabuns of Yakuzas ride in a Toyota Century. That is no longer true since the 2010s. Like everyone else, business has been bad, even in the underworld. Stricter anti-boryokudan (organized crime) laws are also hitting Yakuzas where they hurt the most – their bank accounts. Today’s Internet-connected world means that a smartphone is essential for business but many Yakuzas are forced to

There was a short period of time between 2011 until 2013 when Malaysian car buyers enjoyed a too good to be true deal - import and excise duties were completely waived for fully imported hybrid models with engine capacities below 2,000 cc. The Japan-made Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and CR-Z were introduced here. Between 2009 to 2010, duty exemption was also available, but at a lower rate - 100 percent exemption on import duties and 50 percent discount on excise duties. At a time when even the mo