Australia lost the hero of the green car revolution before it was given a glow-up – and hopes for its revival have been dashed. The door to a return of the Toyota Prius to Australia has slammed shut, months after chances of the hybrid pioneer’s re-introduction to local showrooms surfaced. Last year, then-sales and marketing boss of Toyota Australia, Sean Hanley, told Drive the brand would “re-study Prius” for Australia after passing on launching the latest, sleeker and more efficient fifth-generation model.

“I’d like to revisit it because I think under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard … coming into place, particularly [in the] post-2027 period, it would be advantageous for us to re-look at it and see if we can make it work in our product line-up,” Hanley said. Nearly six months on, the Prius is no longer under consideration. MORE: Toyota Prius back under study for Australia in surprise return (published November 2025) “We’re not planning on re-introducing the Prius at this stage,” Hanley’s successor, John Pappas, told Drive this month.

“We’ve obviously got a great mix of hybrids at the moment. We’re looking at our 30 by 30 strategy right now around plug-in hybrids, fuel cells and BEVs. We don’t have any plans on Prius.” Pappas is referencing Toyota Australia’s goal for 30 per cent of its sales by 2030 to be battery-electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel-cell, joining its broad range of conventional hybrids, and popular diesels.

It ties in with tough CO2 targets for new vehicles set by the Australian government, known as the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, which penalise car companies for selling too many cars that do not meet the limits. MORE: New Toyota Prius to return to the UK The Prius is most attractive as a plug-in hybrid, in which it claims to emit more than 80 per cent less CO2 in lab testing – which favours its electric driving range – than a Corolla hybrid hatch. It would help offset sales of diesel HiLux utes and LandCruiser four-wheel-drives, and reduce the need to sell tens of thousands of electric cars – which produce zero CO2 – when customers are not ready.

Toyota Europe claims the Prius PHEV can cover up to 86km in electric-only mode, and even when the battery has run flat, uses 4.1 to 4.6 litres of petrol per 100 kilometres, based on lab testing. MORE: Toyota GR Prius hybrid hot-hatch concept unveiled The Prius launched in Australia in 2001, mid-way through the original 1997-onwards model’s life cycle, and left showrooms in 2021 as production of the fourth-generation model wound down. Toyota Australia elected not to sell the fifth-generation model, a decision just as the popularity of hybrids began to take off with the previous-generation RAV4 introduced in 2019. A similar decision was taken by Toyota UK, which reversed the move in 2023 and elected to introduce the Corolla-sized hatchback solely as a plug-in hybrid. → Add Drive as a preferred source in Google Search