Toyota’s Prius hybrid taxis will start plying the streets of Seoul in mid-December. Toyota Korea on Thursday said the carmaker will deliver a dozen Prius taxis in mid-December, with another 30 booked for delivery later.
The taxis were launched on Aug. 20, but delivery took longer than expected because of the time required to re-spray them in the requisite colors and fix the components.
Prius taxis are expected to take some time to establish themselves here over the cheaper LPG taxis. A Prius taxi costs around W26 million (US$1=W1,116), up to W10 million more than the LF Sonata, the most common kind of taxis here.
Toyota started mass production of the Prius in 1997 and has sold a total of 3 million units around the world. The taxi versions can be found on the streets of Austria, Croatia, Japan, Singapore and the US.
