Toyota to launch hybrid compact in Japan: report

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp plans to launch a hybrid compact for around 1.5 million yen ($15,760) in Japan in late 2011, broadening its hybrid car line-up, the Asahi newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Demand for gasoline-electric vehicles has jumped in Japan, helped by government tax breaks and subsidies on cleaner cars, and as Toyota and rival Honda Motor Co have lowered prices on their flagship hybrids — to as low as 2.05 million yen for Toyota’s Prius and 1.89 million yen for Honda’s Insight.

Honda’s new Insight became the first hybrid to top the monthly ranking of best-selling cars in Japan in April, while Toyota’s fully remodeled Prius, which debuted three months after the Insight, was No.1 in May.

Reuters