USA Today article about falling gas prices/Prius sales

The Prius sales are falling because it is becoming an old model and there are many other competitors which have better and more luxurious features and the same or lower prices - and because gas prices are falling.

When you look at cars which can get 40+ miles a gallon, realize that there are many which are simply more fun and comfortable to drive than the Prius yet also cost a lot less than a Prius.

The Prius is expensive. So much so that the price difference will take years before they are compensated for by gas mileage.

Americans love to drive. They love fun and fast cars. They also love luxury - which includes a quiet cushy ride. The Prius doesn't meet these American needs. It primarily is a panic purchase.

I'm looking forward to the 2014 model year when hopefully Toyota will re-design the Prius with more capabilities and better features.

 

LOL!

Gas was ~$2.50/gal when I bought our first 2003 Prius in October 2005. It was ~$1.90/gal when we bought our second one, a new 2010, in May 2009. Betting on future, lower gasoline prices is a loser's game. For example:

• $3.39/gal - Exxon
• $3.19/gal - Sunoco
• $3.14/gal - generic brands

Fossil fuels are getting into marginal supplies like tar sands, deep water, and fracking sources. Also, there is a growing push for alternate fossil fuels like LNG. No, we're seeing the effects of 'peak oil' and those who choose to enter their retirement years with inefficient vehicles . . . well I hope they like cat food.

Bob Wilson

 

Yes, I think this article doesn't really make much sense. does anyone have a chart that shows prius sales versus gas prices. There is seasonality, but bigger things outweigh small gas gyrations. These gas prices are high. I'm sure 2007 sales where higher than years with higher gas prices.

This seems to say toyota had estimated prius family (prius liftback, prius v, prius c, and prius phv) would increase in sales from 236 thousand last year to 250 thousand this year. I think they still may, but Toyota is claiming they might not because gas is too cheap? Toyota may need incentives to sell over 250,000. 3 of the cars are fairly new, you can't call it because of old models. The liftback will probably settle back with lower sales than last year. There is not a reason that the other cars can't still make up the difference. The yen is weak, which means toyota can profitably discount these cars, and competition is stronger.

 

How many cars are there out there that get 40+ mpg overall (combined)? 40+ mpg means little if you get 30 mpg or so overall. Do a Fuelly search and get back to us on this, please.

 

I would not call the so called "Falling Prices" over the last 3 weeks a threat to sales.
I just filled up yesterday, $3.95 /gal..... down 15¢, that's just a trickle, falling would be $2.50 /gal!!!

 

Love... fast.. luxury... quiet... cushy... those are all WANTS. Using less gas is a NEED. There's a huge difference.

The technology is mature, well proven, and does more than just use less gas. There's the emission reduction too, which is not true for some other offerings.

As for being a panic, that's doesn't correlate with purchase patterns we've seen in the past.

 

The so called "experts" are so short sighted.

They are like all of those late night commercials who try to sell you the secrets of investing and making a lot money the easy way.

If they knew the secret to success and the future, they would be making the money themselves, instead of trying to sell their "secrets" to you.


They will brag about their correct predictions and NEVER mention how many many times they had been wrong.

Mow many times has gasoline gone down and stayed down in a downward trend over the long term like 10 years or more?

Also, with newer technology, there is less of a "track record" of reliability. I'll stick with Prius.

 

Care to name those "many" that get 40+ mpg COMBINED (not cherry picking the highest number), are more fun and comfortable to drive that ALSO cost a lot less than a Prius?

I sure don't see many of those at Fuel Economy

As I and some others like cycledrum keep harping on, it ought to be illegal to only advertise the highest EPA number. Even worse is then they say "gets 40 mpg" or "up to 40 mpg" and they don't even say highway.

There should be two choices:
- if they're only going to name one, it should be combined
- otherwise it's all 3 (city/highway/combined) in equal prominence.

 

with lower fuel prices, more people might get Camry or Corolla... doesnt help that liftback is pretty old by now and will be all-new in 12 months. I wonder if US will get Corolla Hybrid like rest of the world.

 

I hope gas prices drop to less than $3 per gallon....


Buy low, Sell hi.

 

Gas goes down, gas goes up. There's a shocker.

 

Apparently you haven’t priced cat food. It costs more than human food most of the time.

 

And tastes better on a cracker, too.

 

MMMM...You said it!

 

I've been waiting to see these cars myself. So many are claiming they exist but Fuelly and Fueleconomy.gov searches come up empty.

 

Found some on fueleconomy.gov, but not 40+ miles per gallon!
2012 Hyundai Elantra 4 Cylinder, 1.8 L. Automatic 6-spd 28.9 mpg combined for 49 cars
2013 Hyundai Elantra 4 Cylinder, 1.8 L. Automatic 6-spd 28.6 mpg combined for 19 cars
2013 Ford C-MAX Hybrid 4 Cylinder, 2.0 Liter, Automatic 38.6 mpg combined for 84 cars
2012 Toyota Prius 4 Cylinder, 1.8 Liter, Automatic 49.2 mpg combined for 27 cars

 

^^^
Yep, most "40 mpg" (highway) non-hybrids are 30 mpg combined or low 30s at best. That's often w/a more expensive trim level or manual transmission. Some examples at Compare Side-by-Side. Best mileage is 33 mpg combined w/a manual and more expensive trim.

Want the cheapest trim (comes w/1.8L engine) and an auto? 27 mpg combined. 27 << 50. High 20s mpg combined isn't uncommon amongst such cars w/automatics.

Hyundai had some "40 mpg" highway vehicles until it was found they had procedural errors in their tests. Now per Affected Models | Hyundai MPG Information, not a single vehicle has "40 mpg" highway. The best I see now is 32 mpg combined for a non-hybrid for them.

 

A 20 mpg difference between city and highway, and the combined will probably be 36?