Toyota FT-CH Concept – a new ‘Small & Sporty’ Toyota Prius

The Toyota FT-CH Concept - a stumpy Prius

Toyota held a 25 minute press conference this morning at the Detroit Motor Show to tell the assembled throng of journos that it’s going to make lots of Hybrids. Once everyone picked themselves up off the floor after the shock of that revelation, Toyota went on to say that the Toyota FT-CH Concept they were unveiling was a look at the future of Toyota’s hybrid cars and would be part of an extended family of Prius models. Will we ever recover from such shocking revelations?

The Toyota FT-CH is a lump shorter than a Prius (almost 2′) but only an inch narrower, so it’s a much chunkier prospect. Designed by Toyota’s designers in France it is apparently aimed at the ’8-Bit- generation. That’s a new one on us, but it apparently refers to those who grew up in the ’80s and played early 8-bit video games. The simple lines and bright colours are supposed to evoke that time and appeal to a generation now in their late twenties.

We didn’t have video games when I was growing up in the sixties, but to draw a parallel I guess Toyota’s designers would be sketching up a car that reminded me of Lego or Meccano. Not sure that has legs. Not sure the ’8-Bit’ Generation thing does either.

It looks as if this could be Toyota’s answer to the Honda CR-Z with its more sporty dimensions and younger target audience. The lighter and more compact FT-CH should offer better economy than the Prius, but it’s still not likely to set your hair on fire.

Toyota are planning to release eight all-new hybrid cars in the next few years to reach their aim of selling 1 million hybrids a year. They also intend launching an all electric car in 2012.

Who knows. We may get the Toyota Lego aimed at my generation after all.

By Cars UK