Toyota: Honed and away

The third-generation Toyota Prius is even lighter on the gas. Photo / Supplied

Toyota's Prius launched last week leads a Toyota hybrid offensive on the New Zealand market. A hybrid Camry will arrive within a year, and the Prius plug-in will undergo field trials in early 2010.

Meanwhile, this third-generation hybrid Prius further hones its tech to cut thirst to a claimed 3.9l/100km - an 11 per cent improvement on the previous car. At 1.8 litres the petrol engine is bigger, boosting power from 81 to 100kW, the increase obtained without a thirst penalty via the car's Atkinson Cycle engine in place of the more conventional Otto cycle.

The base Prius costs $47,490, but its up-spec $62,090 sibling features a lot more than just frugal thirst. It includes dynamic radar cruise control, which will maintain distance from the car in front.

There are touch-sensitive steering wheel-mounted controls that activate temporary menus in front of the driver, and a heads-up display, which projects information like vehicle speed on to the base of the windscreen, so drivers can keep their eyes on the road ahead.

And there are the party tricks. A solar-powered ventilation system circulates outside air within the cabin when parking on a hot day. And remote air conditioning lets you activate the hybrid battery to fire the air con three minutes before you open the car to get in.