Toyota May Use iQ Platform To Deliver Roadster, Minivan

Toyota may be planning to leverage the iQ platform to bring a 2-seater hybrid to market. According to a German publication, the company is working on the car as a way to spread the development costs of the iQ platform across several models. Auto Motor and Sport says that the vehicle, tentatively named the Spider, will debut at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. If the vehicle makes it into production, it would have both gasoline and diesel variants.

Toyota will also reportedly use the iQ platform to build a hybrid minivan to replace the Yaris. The iQ is expected to hit the market in the US as part of Toyota's Scion lineup, but the company has not said when it will bring the iQ to the US, and what its sales plan for the vehicle might be.

Toyota recently posted its first quarterly loss in more than a decade, blaming decreased vehicle sales on the sluggish global economy and production problems that have plagued the company's more popular models. The company has also shifted production away from full-size pickups to smaller more fuel-efficient vehicles. In an effort to meet the consumer demand for its Prius hybrid, the company will also produce the vehicle in the United States at a new plant scheduled to open in 2009 in Mississippi.

Photo Credit: Toyota