The Toyota Hybrid System II is being used for the company's new 1.5 liter engine that is more powerful than conventional 2.0 liter engines, said Masatami Takimoto, Toyota Motor Corp.'s managing director.

"So far, development of hybrid vehicles has focused on economy and ecology. But now we are also putting our focus on their performance," he said.

Hybrid vehicles run on both gasoline and electricity, switching automatically from one to the other depending on driving conditions.

The next generation Prius, which goes on sale in Japan, Europe and the United States in the northern autumn, will meet more strict emission standards to be implemented in California and in Europe in 2005, said Hiroyuki Watanabe, Toyota's senior managing director.

"The new system cuts (Prius') emissions down to one half that of conventional gas-fueled vehicles," he said.

The new Prius' fuel consumption is up to 15 percent better than that of the previous model, which runs 31 kilometers a liter (73 miles a gallon), Toyota officials said.

Toyota has yet to set global sales targets for the next generation Prius. The company wants to sell 36,000 units annually in the US market.

Prius was first launched in 1997 as the world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle and was claimed to produce 90 percent less harmful emissions than the average conventional car. Toyota has since sold more than 120,000 units.

Toyota said it hopes to use the new hybrid system on other models in the future, though officials declined to elaborate.

SPACE.WIRE