Toyota has confirmed earlier news reports of its plans to start assembling the Prius hybrid in Thailand this year, stepping up overseas output of the fuel-sipping vehicle amid swelling global demand, reports said on August 7th.

Toyota, the front-runner in hybrid cars that use two power sources - a petrol engine and another source such as an electric motor - launched the Prius, the world's first mass-produced hybrid car, in 1997. It will make the latest model of the Prius in Thailand, the second hybrid car following the hybrid version of the Camry sedan, the Japanese media said without citing sources.

Local subsidiary Toyota Motor Thailand will oversee the Prius production, with the technology-sensitive hybrid system including batteries and engines to be supplied from Japan, the reports said.

The world's biggest automaker wants eventually to export the hybrid cars from Thailand to quickly expanding Asian markets, the reports said.