[PriusFan]

Our Prius will soon have it's Rival, in 2013.

Is Hyundai playing with fire?

The Prius has been around for a while, a long while and now Hyundai wants to step in with their very own Hyundai Plug-In Hybrid. It's a smart move by Hyundai to keep up with the demand. But they will have to put in a lot of work to even try beating the Toyota Prius.

What will Hyundai have to do to their plug-in hybrid to defeat the Prius?


Hyundai to offer plug-in hybrid in 2013

Although Hyundai might now be playing catch up with Toyota in the hybrid race, the automaker hopes to even the score in 2013 by launching a plug-in Prius rival.

“We plan to launch a plug-in hybrid model which is in the same segment as the Prius in 2013,” an unnamed Hyundai official told Reuters this week in Seoul, where the automaker has recently begun selling its first midsize hybrid, the Sonata Hybrid.

A plug-in Hyundai would likely be based on the existing Sonata Hybrid and would use technology similar to that in the Chevrolet Volt and the limited-availability Toyota Prius Plug-in. Although both of those designs are drastically different beneath the surface, they both rely on strong lithium ion batteries to power the vehicle for a set range before a gas engine kicks over to either serve as a generator (Volt) or provide propulsion assistance (Prius).

Hyundai expects brisk demand for its Sonata Hybrid in its domestic market – as many as 12,000 deliveries through the rest of 2011 before leveling off around 18,000 units annually. The Sonata Hybrid has been on sale in North America since January, although the automaker was slow to roll out the model in this market until recently.

“We’re seeing terrific demand for it [the Sonata Hybrid],” John Krafcik, Hyundai Motor America president and CEO, said in a statement earlier this month.

 

[High.Breed]

Hyundai will need to build a big enough name behind them to out sell the prius and also offer a **** of a price to allow them to outsell and out brand toyota! which is almost an impossible task!

 

[much2green]

2013 it took about Toyota 7 years to build a respectable hybrid name that could be backed up by Toyota's brand as well!

 

[hybrid-driver]

I am a hardcore Toyota fan but Hyundai has been growing at a super fast rate. Hyundai is now known to build cheap, reliable, cool looking vehicles. The Prius is well known, to beat that will be hard and very costly. People will be a lot more confident buying a car with history than a car with no history.

If Hyundai wants to win, how they price the Hyundai hybrid will be KEY to its success.

 

[HY.BRD]

a rival, yeah right Toyota has been in the Hybrid market for a while, even though Hyundai is stepping up its game! their hybrid would never match toyota's!

 

[frank]

lol @ Hyundai, they can try all they want to make a their own version of a Prius but i doubt it will ever be a challenge for the Prius.

The first Prius came out nearly 10 years ago, Hyundai is 10 years behind.

Hyundai is only good for making clones of other cars and pricing them cheaper.