Toyota Sets Price, Date for Prius Hybrid

Toyota Motor Corp. set the suggested retail price for its five-passenger Prius hybrid sedan at $19,995, making it competitive with Honda’s smaller two-seat hybrid, the Insight. Executives at Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. said Toyota dealers in the U.S. will start taking orders for the 50-miles-per-gallon sedan in June. Deliveries are to begin in August. The single-price Prius uses a small gasoline engine augmented by an electric motor for propulsion. It comes with air conditioning, power windows and door locks, and automatic transmission. Honda’s gas-electric Insight has a base price of $18,880, with air conditioning as a $1,200 option. Toyota and Honda so far are the only car companies offering hybrid vehicles in the U.S., part of an effort to meet tougher government restrictions on automotive emissions. Separately, the Sierra Club used the New York Auto Show as a forum to present Toyota with a special environmental engineering award for the Prius.