On that same day, the Toyota plug-in Prius also made its China debut. Toyota also made the Asia debut of the compact hybrid FT-CH, the China debut of electric vehicle FT-EV II, and the China debut of rear-wheel-drive lightweight sports car FT-86.

Toyota has already sold 709,000 vehicles in China which makes up 21% of its total sales. This year, the company is aiming for a 13% growth in sales, which means they need to sell about 800,000 vehicles. The company is positive that they can do this despite their recent recalls. This is because the sales have already increased to 43% during the first two months of this year. Toyota was able to sell 117,000 vehicles during these two months alone.

The car maker had to issue a recall notice in China for 75,552 RAV-4 sports utility vehicles. This was because the units had faulty gas pedals. Despite this setback, Toyota continues to develop more cars and remain positive about its endeavors.

Toyota promises to produce this affordable plug-in by 2012. This car will promote the company’s eco-friendly cause. Earlier, Toyota unveiled the Prius Plug-in at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show. The company released three basic stats for the car.

According to reports about the environmentally-friendly car, the Prius will have an extended EV driving mode, reaching up to 12.5 miles as long as the speed is kept only up to 62mph. The CO2 emission of the car is also said to be less than 60g/km. The unit should be fully recharged in an hour and a half when using a 230-volt supply.

The first of the additional styling that we might see on the Prius is the 2-door coupe that will target to topple the 2011 hybrid Honda CR-Z sports coupe.

The future member of the Prius line is expected to sport the same 4-cylinder 1.8L engine and Hybrid Synergy Drive set up of the current release of the Prius. The package though might come with better aerodynamics than the 5-door version which already boasts of a 0.25 drag coefficient– among the best for production cars today. The Prius coupe will also be a lot lighter than the family variant.

The Prius vehicles will see other new members like a small minivan that may rival the 2010 Mazda5 in terms of size and capacity. The Mazda5 is one class smaller than the current Toyota Sienna which is considered as one of the top choices for minivans in the United States.

The new members of the Prius line up will face off against hybrid models that will roll off the factories of Honda which is pushing harder to make their line up greener than it was originally planned.

A Japanese newspaper reports that Toyota will be producing between 20000 and 30000 units of plug-in hybrids come 2012. This will be two years after GM kicks off the production of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.

A plug-in hybrid that was derived from the platform of the current Prius hybrid is expected to go to dealerships in Japan this month. This car will have a tag price starting at $47,800. The car will be able to travel for about 18.6 miles running on electric power alone. It depends on a pack of lithium ion batteries made by Panasonic EV Energy.

Toyota does not want to confirm any latest development with the plug-in hybrid cars they are producing.

A previous report verified that Toyota is fast tracking its global trials of about 500 units of plug-in hybrids by end of 2009. These cars will be ready for commercial and government fleets. Japan will keep about 200 vehicles for testing while 150 will go to Europe and the other 150 for the U.S. market.

The plug-in hybrid variant of the Prius returned a 30% improvement in terms of fuel mileage compared to the 2010 Prius which is already considered as the most fuel efficient in the U.S.