Joining the ranks of automakers a little late to the hybrid party, Hyundai just announced plans to offer a plug-in hybrid by 2013. An unnamed company official told Reuters this weekend that Hyundai “plan[s] to launch a plug-in hybrid model which is in the same segment as the Prius in 2013.”

The new hybrid’s design would likely be based on the Sonata, which has been selling well. “We’re seeing terrific demand for it,” Hyundai Motor America president and CEO John Krafcik said earlier this month. A Prius-fighter? Well, maybe. But when it makes its way to the U.S. market the new Hyundai is more likely to steal sales from Kia’s upcoming Optima Hybrid, which will likely be closer to it in size and efficiency.

+ Hyundai

Via Left Lane News