Toyota to end Prius plug-in production

The company promises to deliver a next-generation model, but current inventories will likely be depleted by late summer or early fall.

Toyota is preparing to end production of the current-generation Prius plug-in hybrid.

The last of the 2015 plug-in models will roll off the assembly line sometime next month, as the company prepares to introduce the next-generation Prius.

“We are hard at work developing the next generation Prius Plug-in Hybrid and we are looking forward to sharing more details with you as we approach our launch date,” Toyota marketing representative Nathan Kokes said in PriusChat forum thread spotted by InsideEVs.

The report estimates that approximately 1,100 Prius PHVs are sitting in dealer inventory across the country. The company sold 428 units in April, down by more than 75 percent compared to the same month last year, suggesting the existing stock could be depleted by late summer.

The company has not publicly pinned down a launch window for the next-generation Prius, or the plug-in variant, and Kokes further added that production plans are not aligned with availability of government incentives, competing products or the Mirai launch.

“As mentioned, we are stopping production in June but will have plenty of Prius Plug-in Hybrids to sell long after that,” he said.

The inventory may not be large enough to stretch all the way to the launch of the new Prius PHV, which is not expected to arrive on the market until the fall of 2016. The basic Prius will arrive sooner, likely by the end of the current year unless the project hits any additional snags.