Well, the 2010 Toyota Prius model is scheduled to be officially unveiled at a Detroit auto show early next year, but no Toyota enthusiast is going to have any surprises when it comes to the car’s looks, because photos of it have been “leaked” on PriusChat.com since earlier this week, and have since been posted all over the web.
We use the word leaked in quotes because nobody seems to be sure if the photos are an actual leak or just a “clever” viral marketing scheme by Toyota. Oh bother, we do have to stop with those quote marks, especially since the same strategy does seem to have worked in the past. The doubts do lend credence, especially since the leaked photos have a very professional look about them, like they came out of a photo shoot, not some hurried snapshots an employee took when the bosses weren’t looking.

Toyota has made a post on their blog on Thursday, confirming the whole affair. The pictures are the real deal, Toyota says, and they make it a point of telling us that they can’t release anything past very vague technical specifications until the Prius’ official unveiling at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.

“This new Prius will retain all of the virtues of the model that precedes it. It’s about the same size as its forebear, but with more interior room and better fuel economy,” says Toyota. Indeed, while the Prius maintains the same basic shape as its predecessor, it does tend to borrow some details from other Toyota models such as the Matrix and Corolla.