THIS is how you advertise the Prius

I tend to doubt it. I think it might've been either a glitch or Chrome/your machine/the Flash plugin was in a bad state. If you'd rebooted/power cycled in between attempts, that likely "fixed" things.

 

i believe i fit number two and i have never seen a worthwhile toyota commercial, let alone prius. vw and honda have good commercials.

 

It's a Linux box, I don't have to reboot it

Mike

 

If I didn't already have a Prius, any of the Toyota commercials would have convinced me not to buy one. No one wants to be a freak.

 

I will disagree with those thinking that the prius ads are horrific or unappealing and related to the sales numbers:

1) the Prius is not made to be a mainstream car. There are other cars in that segment and that segment (Civic/Camry and other hybrids) is not selling well.

2) the Prius is a new-ish product that could cannibalize the Corolla and Camry segments, something that Toyota does not want.

3) the only enticing thing about the 2010 Prius to the mainstream customer who has not bought a Prius or even a Toyota is the slightly less awkward styling compared to the 2004 one.

4) The competition has caught up and many inexpensive cars get ~36 mpg. If the 2010 Prius get 50 mpg, that's not a particularly strong incentive to shell an extra $4000 to.

5) Price increases have not helped much either, particularly since wages have remained stagnant. The recovery is jittery, people are still scared over unemployment and uncertainty.

 

Like the civic ninja?

 

Can you name those "many inexpensive cars get ~36 mpg"?

A power search at Fuel Economy reveals only 2 non-hybrids with over >=36 mpg COMBINED.

 

Mainstream has meant 5K per month for over a decade. It's easy to mix up "top-20 seller" for that.

Of course, in Japan Prius has been #1 for years now.

Phasing out traditional offerings continues to be a long-term goal for Toyota. Cannibalizing is fine if marketshare is retained and buyers simply shift over to hybrid offerings.

Where did that number come from? Sounds outdated and overly simplistic.

 

no idea what that is. mostly, their commercials sometimes make me laugh. however, i have never bought either brand so i'm not sure what type of auto advertising actually 'works'.

 

The Hyundai Elantra will get 32 city & 49 highway if driven completely normal. I averaged those figures over a ~2500 or so mile trip around the Great Lakes States. I don't know what that is combined, but it was damn good and well over the window sticker numbers.

Mike

 

38.7 MPG, if half was city.

I wish more people understood that the combined MPG is a harmonic mean. Then we would have less crap advertising only showing the highway fuel economy.

 

If you're referring to the price as an overly simplistic number the 3rd gen Prius is perhaps even more expensive than other high mpg offerings if you include the APR on a loan.

The point I am making is that it is the Prius that's a slightly odd car, and their slightly odd marketing campaign reflects that. The way they will make the Prius a top-20 is by slowly making it more mainstream.

The change we seek and hope for, in terms of sales numbers, take time both for Toyota and the general public.

 

That's pretty good as Hyundai advertises up to 40 mpg on that car I was driving 1/4 city with 3/4 Interstates but still it got that magical up to 40 mpg

Mike

 

I think Prii sales actually improve when the commercial run is over!

 

I liked their goofy commercials. I downloaded that Harmony song from Toyota's site way back when they offered it. I still play it in the rentals and even in my new Prius

Mike

 

You are reporting the car's meter rather than calculated, right ?

 

Meter & calculated as they were dead nuts accurate as long as I filled it full, not giving up at the first click I fill 'em to the threads when I drive the rentals

Mike


iPhone

 

My wife loved the Prius v commercials that with the catchy song and the people putting all their family stuff in the cargo area. It resonated with pregnant women.