Toyota attracts 80% of U.S. hybrid sales

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Jun 6, 2007 | 03:35 PM

allscion

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Toyota attracts 80% of U.S. hybrid sales

And Honda is throwing in the towel with the Accord.

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http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660227097,00.html

Quote:

WASHINGTON — Record gasoline prices drove hybrid-electric cars and trucks to a new level of popularity in May, but the majority of those sales went to just one automaker.
As U.S. hybrid sales jumped to 45,000 vehicles — their highest monthly total ever — Toyota Motor Co. captured 80 percent of all new hybrid customers, according to a Detroit Free Press analysis. While other automakers reported sizable increases in hybrid sales, Toyota saw sales of its hybrid Prius more than double from a year earlier.
With sales of 24,009 vehicles — more than all other hybrids combined — the Prius was the ninth top-selling U.S. model in the industry for May, outselling mass-market names such as the Nissan Altima, Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Cobalt. The only car model from a Detroit automaker that outsold the Prius last month was the Chevrolet Impala. ...

Other automakers already appear to be adapting the lessons of the Prius. Honda Motor Co. said Monday that it would halt sales of its slow-selling Honda Accord hybrid this fall when a redesigned Accord goes on sale. The automaker has said its next hybrid vehicle will be a Prius-like model that doesn't compete directly with any other vehicle in its lineup.

Jun 6, 2007 | 04:33 PM

Kremtok

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As I see it, this is the most important point made in the article:

Quote:

The booming sales of the Prius may also be due to the lack of a head-to-head comparison with other Toyota vehicles. A buyer considering other hybrids, such as the Toyota Camry sedan and Ford Escape SUV, can usually stroll across a dealer's showroom and see a non-hybrid model of the same vehicle for $3,000 to $5,000 less before any incentives, a gap that isn't always overcome by the hybrid's fuel savings.

Buyers see the price difference between hybrid and non-hybrid models of the same vehicle, and by my estimation, will usually spring for the lower-priced, non-hybrid model. Why spend $3 000 to $5 000 extra to support the development of hybrid technology when you can get an upgraded stereo, bigger wheels, or $75 per month off the car payment?

My point here is that Toyota's marketing of the Prius is genius: It's widely seen as the ultimate 'green' car and it practically has no competition, considering the rarity of the Civic Hybrid. Toyota has found a nice, driven a spike into it, and cracked a whole new market wide open for itself.

Jun 18, 2007 | 03:51 PM

scionturtle

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From: Vestavia Hills, AL

hybrid

I sell Toyotas and unless your looking at a car in the 20K or over range the Prius will not save you enough money in fuel to justify the cost difference. Especially if you are like most Americans who trade every three to four years. For example:

2006 Scion XB 15,500 34 MPG

2006 Toyota Pruis 23,000 55 MPG

By rough estimates you would have to drive the Prius 9 Years to drive out the difference.

Great for the environment but you can buy alot of gas for $8000

Sep 7, 2007 | 02:43 PM

shoultesy

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BUY A PRIUS!

I don't care who you are.... if you're the kinds of person that drives a car until it blows up on the side of the road the Prius will make up for its inital cost! Yea, I own a Corolla, I get about 35 MPG's. I did get the opportunity to drive a Prius for several hours. Using my regular driving style I averaged 52 MPGs. That means that on my Corolla I roughly get 420 miles per tank. The Prius also has a 12 gallon tank and that would get 624 miles per tank... That's a difference of 204 miles per tank at $3/gallon that would mean that is would cost $61 more just in gas to get the same miles on a Corolla. (The US consumes 400,000,000 gallons of gas a DAY!) On top of that, the Prius has more standard features than any Toyota. The regenerative braking typically extends the brake pad life to approximatly 80,000. The Japanese engineers claim the life expectance of the hybrid engine to last in excess of 1 million miles. The Pruis has the lowest warranty claim of any Toyota. The spark plugs don't have to be replaced until 120,000 miles... We're not even talking about the tree hugger facts... 6000 miles of driving produces the smame amount of smog forming pollutants as an 8 oz aerosol can... etc etc... Its worth the extra money