About 10 years ago, when the hybrid market was in its infancy, there were only two players: the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius. Thing is, with the Prius being a conventional four-door sedan, and the Insight a tiny coupe/hatch/shoe, any price different was largely irrelevant. But now that the Insight and the Prius are both four-door hatchbacks, both all-new this year, and both nearly as indistinguishable from each other as Mary Kate and Ashley, price suddenly matters.
We recently learned that Honda stuck to its promise to offer the least expensive full hybrid on the market, and the Insight starts at just $20,470 and rises to $23,770 when fully loaded. No one expected the 2010 Prius to snatch that title, and it won’t, with the base 2010 “Prius I” starting at $21,750. (We don’t yet know how decontented this model will be, but we expect it will be very stripped down.) That said, the 2010 Prius has been priced a lot closer to the Insight than Honda may like. Indeed, with only $1300 separating the two, the price difference may not be enough to pencil in the Honda as the hybrid sales leader, especially given the Prius’s loftier mpg rating. The Toyota is rated at 51 mpg city/48 mpg highway, while the Honda is rated for 40/43.
The Prius II model will start at $22,750, while the Prius III—which has a nicer stereo and Bluetooth connectivity—will begin at $23,750. Jumping up to the $26,550 Prius IV adds leather upholstery, heated front seats, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, and a smart-key system. The final frontier is the V trim, which starts at $28,020 and nabs a set of fog lamps, LED headlights, and 17-inch wheels—as well as sportier steering and suspension tuning, as we found out during our recent first drive review of the 2010 Prius. For those who want a more hedonistic hybrid, Toyota will also offer an $1800 Navigation package (nav, a swankier stereo, Bluetooth, and a backup camera), a $3600 Solar Roof package (includes Nav package and solar cells on the roof for powering the ventilation system), and the $4500 Advanced Tech pack (includes Nav package plus safety gadgets like radar cruise and a system to keep you in your lane). Fully loaded, the 2010 Prius will crest $32,000, or some $4000 more than an optioned-out 2009 model.
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