Underpinning the Prius is Toyota’s New Global Architecture which will also be used across a range of Toyota vehicles, promising a suite of lighter and more compact components to save weight.

Toyota is keen to get the new Prius to market before stronger competition starts to arise from other automakers – particularly Hyundai and Kia – and it will be on sale after its debut at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Now for 2015, there is a whole family of Prius models, but the best-selling one is still the original liftback. We’ll see if that’s the case.

The side profile hasn’t changed, but the car’s front and rear ends are entirely different.

Details are scarce at the moment on what the new 2016 Toyota Prius will offer, but obviously look for a more efficient gas engine paired to more powerful electric motors and a denser battery.

So, was the Mirai a teaser for the Prius, strictly from an appearance point of view?

The most interesting element to the 2016 Prius is what’s underneath. It goes without saying this aspect will profoundly influence the PHEV’s overall effectiveness.

These photos, which seem to have been taken while the next-generation hybrid hatch was strapped in for a trans-oceanic flight, were first published by the Toyota Prius Club of Malaysia.

The HVAC system (abbreviation for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) should be controlled by standard buttons inserted in a strip positioned right below the display.

We assume that the wheels on those Frankfurt-bound Prii (yes, that the official plural name for multiple Prius’s) are just placeholders, as they’d surely be a downgrade.