Hyundai Prepping a Toyota Prius Rival?

The South Korean automaker, Hyundai, seems to be working on a new model. Well, that is if some of the latest automotive reports around the web are to be believed. These reports suggest that Hyundai will slate this upcoming model to rival the likes of the Toyota Prius. The name for the new model has yet to be known. As a matter of fact, according to Reuters, there is little to say about this new model, unfortunately. Nonetheless, one thing is for sure. The new model will end up as a hybrid vehicle.

As reported by the Reuters, the new Hyundai model will come in the form of an electric-gas hybrid combination vehicle. This drives away earlier speculation that the car will simply be an environmentally friendly variant of a Hyundai model that is readily available in the automotive markets around the world.

According to Kim Choong-ho, CEO Hyundai, it is not the right time just yet for the company to reveal further details in respect to its upcoming hybrid vehicle model. However, he claims that Hyundai is determined to take the leading role in the eco-friendly automotive industry in the years to come. The South Korean automaker, as Choong-ho claims, will raise the bar for the competitiveness in this industry. It will develop not only solely hybrid cars but also plug-in hybrid and the cars that take advantage of fuel cell hydrogen. The latter may well remind automotive enthusiasts of the FCV from Toyota. Appropriately, FCV stands for fuel cell vehicle.

Besides the FCV, the Japan-based Toyota is currently working on some finishing touches for the next generation model of its hybrid vehicle, the Prius. So, if Hyundai is serious about competing in the hybrid vehicle market segment with Toyota, it will have to launch its upcoming model pretty soon as well.