Toyota to launch hybrid Corolla, plug-in Prius at Frankfurt Motor Show

he car that we here in the US know as the Toyota Corolla --which much of the rest of world now calls the Auris -- will launch next week as the first Toyota to be converted from a standard production model into a full technology hybrid, enabling full electric operation in day-to-day driving.

The Toyota Prius has always been built on a unique stand-alone hybrid platform.

The concept represents a milestone in Toyota’s strategy: introducing Toyota’s full hybrid technology to a mainstream model, and the first step in the deployment of Hybrid Synergy Drive across the company’s model range. The Auris will utilize the Toyota Prius series-parallel hybrid drivetrain from the Toyota Prius.

The Auris is manufactured by Toyota in the UK and in Turkey. The UK plant will be the only site building the hybrid version. Check out the clever European television for the Toyota Auris below.

Whether the Auris will come to the US in its current form, or whether the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive will be adapted to the US version of the Toyota Corolla, remains to be seen. Toyota has committed to making available to customers a hybrid option to each of its models. In any case it's unlikley we'd see either car until at least 2011.

The new Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept will also make its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Prius Plug-in Hybrid expands the capabilities of Toyota’s full hybrid technology, enabling pure electric operation for short-range day-to-day transportation. In early 2010, an extensive field test will see evaluation vehicles being leased to selected fleet customers.