In a meeting held between top Toyota executives and Toyota dealers across the nation, the company made it official that the Prius name will be seen on more hybrid models coming soon from Toyota.

The meeting was held in Las Vegas over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  According to the executives on hand, the Prius name will be attached to "a family of models" that use similar hybrid powertrains.

A leading proponent of widespread use of the Prius name is long time Toyota dealer Earl Stewart.  As Stewart said, "The Highlander hybrid and Camry hybrid do OK, but calling it Synergy Drive never resonated with consumers.  But they can make hay on the Prius name.  It's a magic name.  If somebody says "I drive a Prius" everybody knows what he means.

This is not the first time the company has talked about expanding the Prius name to other models, but the meeting does mark the first time that this has been openly discussed with both Toyota President Yoshi Inaba and Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda present.

According to Stewart, the Prius name will be carried on other hybrid models from the company, but the Prius will not become a sub-brand like Scion.

As many know, it's all in the name.  Toyota's amazing success with the Prius as the most successful selling hybrid car of all time has many people fully aware of the Prius name.  Placing that name on other hybrid vehicles will help buyers immediately relate that product to the successful Prius, a move Toyota should have probably made years ago.

Source:  Automotive News