Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest seller of hybrid-electric cars, said a version of its Prius hatchback due next year will be roomier and more fuel-efficient.
Images posted Wednesday on the Internet offer views of the 2010-model Prius, confirmed Allison Takahashi, a spokeswoman for the automaker's sales unit in the United States, in an interview.
The car is to be unveiled in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, she said. Toyota didn't post the photos, Takahashi said.
The new vehicle "is about the same size as its forebear, but with more interior room and better fuel economy," the company said in an e-mail.
Prius, sold in the U.S. since 2000, has the best fuel-economy among autos from major carmakers, getting 46 miles per gallon (about 19 km per liter) in combined city and highway driving, according to the U.S. government. A decision to keep using nickel-metal hydride batteries, rather than lighter, more powerful lithium-ion batteries, as the car got bigger suggested Toyota might struggle to lift efficiency.
The company has increased the size of the electric motor, allowing the new car to rate higher in federal fuel-economy tests, said K.G. Duleep, managing director of consulting firm Energy & Environmental Analysis Inc. in Arlington, Va.