Why Didn't Toyota get a charge out of the Plug In Prius?

None at all. They advertise hybrids but not the PIP. Nissan have advertised the Leaf and Renault heavily advertise their Zoe ZE and Mitsubishi are pushing their Outlander PHEV all the time - every other tv show seems to be sponsored by them - or so it seems.

Maybe that's it, they're just offering token supply to appease the important low emission market? It's hardly a trophy car though as they don't adverise it exists.

 

That's because the plug-in Prius was new.

ICE is already well established. People will wonder what ICEV means and how it differs.

 

sounds like a russian drink.

 

Arguments over semantics and acronyms aside....

Opinion...Larger, less efficient vehicles have always been heavily marketed, priced and regulated to the American consumer. To this day the Ford and Chevy 1/2 ton PUs are still the biggest sellers...and not just for commercial use. Being "programmed" to believe bigger is better, safer and more masculine worked...efficiency be damned. Small works better on the other side because the roadways as a whole are smaller and higher population density, so they have to sell them...and some of those are made buy the US Big Three. More efficiency is required over there because the gasoline is more heavily taxed...instead of subsidized like it is here Until after 2006, diesel (more efficient than gas) car and light truck emissions were not regulated. Perceptions of what might sell is BS because they program us what to buy with media and culture, and foreign manufactures have had to play into that market to make money. I remember when Honda started here with eco-boxes, then became full size boats for a while. Yes every country allows different vehicles, but Europe and Japan (as examples) have many more fuel efficient and alternative options as a whole. While here the Big Three is fighting the trend toward efficiency and reliability tooth and nail over easy profits, economics is forcing them to change...although at a much slower pace than we would like. The trend towards acceptance of alternative fuel vehicles is hard for people to accept as big change usually is. It will happen out of necessity, but more on a generational basis as humans like their security blankets. But you have to make them available. There is one true and hard principle to selling cars...if they are on the lot, they will sell.

 

More than once I was asked by people discovering the charge port lid:
Is this car a plug-in? Is this new? I did not realize the Prius has a plug-in version.
Make me think: very limited supply quota, no advertising at all (In Israel at least) make the demand very limited to the knowledgeable few.
In the US people have to take a trip to another state to get hold of one, there are countries on the globe the PiP was not launched at all.
This is a remarkable car in efficiency, usefulness, reliability and more. It seems it is selling itself by its merits without any push, and if so it is doing a very good job isn't it?

 

That's basically a repeat of how Gen-1 of the no-plug was rolled out. Toyota understood that audience and worked accordingly. Gen-2 was a great success as a result.

How certain people can continue to disregard that history and instead make claims that Toyota has lost faith is baffling.

Toyota carefully studies the market and adjusts to meet need along the way, as they learn more about how consumers respond to the technology. That's why limited initial rollout makes so much sense. As an added bonus, they end up forming a group of knowledgeable supporters... who become an invaluable resource when the next-gen is finally offered.

Why wouldn't Toyota want to do that again?

 

John, while what you're saying makes perfect sense, the problem with the Plug-in Prius isn't necessarily the PiP itself; it's Toyota's advertising branch doing all that anti-plug-in bashing, no doubt with marching orders from the top brass.

That sends a very mixed message to people about whether they truly support plug-in hybrids or are just using them for CARB credits.

 

Know your audience.

The people later will be very, very, very different from who is involved now.

Again, history has overwhelmingly confirmed the disassociation effect next-gen rollout has on messages.

 

A slow, cautious roll out is all fine and dandy, but that isn't what Toyota was saying on the introduction of the Prius PHV. Along with a set month for nationwide roll out in the US there is, "Toyota has set its global sales goal for the Prius PHV at more than 60,000 a year, with Japan comprising 40,000 units, two-thirds of the global sales goal, as the company views the nation as the main market for the model, the maker said." - Toyota rolls out rechargeable Prius plug-in hybrid - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun

Sixty thousand a year sound familiar? Toyota didn't blunder it as bad as GM since they are talking about Japan plus North America, but they were expecting big sales with release. Shutting down production now as opposed to a few months before the next generation release also gives the impression that they building to demand as a cautious roll out would imply. It would seem production was geared to higher expected sales, and for whatever reason(costs, labor agreement) they maintained a higher than required production output.

 

how many did they sell?

 

Do you have any citation for the actual sales in Japan? How many are sold there per year?

 

it's funny, over in the mirai pricing thread, austin green is saying that pip sales were spectacular until toyota decided they didn't want to be in the plug in market anymore, and troll is saying here that they didn't meet expectations right out of the shute.

 

Leaving out the part adjusting plans based upon the market along the way and also rolling out a variety of other models at the same time is not constructive. That's like quoting out of context.

Also, you're being quite hypocriticial about claiming that no one is dwelling on the past anymore.

We have moved on to Gen-2 discussion.

Tell us about plans & expectations for 2016.

 

Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There is a table at the link. For the click jaded, the year to date(Sept. 2014) sales.
US 36,680
Japan 19,100
Global 65,310

While not what they or GM was saying they would get, there was sales growth from the slow start. While GM and Nissan appeared to continue pushing sales and supporting their plugin, Toyota appears to have just left the PPI to its own devices. Kinda of reminds me of GM and Saturn.

I'm just countering the narrative that Prius Plug In sales are precceeding to Toyota's cautious roll out and market adjustment, with Toyota put their foot in their month nearly as badly as GM did prelaunch, and they got cold feet when that didn't come to be, and retreated from the segment instead of sticking it out as the others did. See, I'm not dwelling on what GM did or say about the Volt leading up to its release, neither am I trying to spin it into a positive.

I don't expect much for the PPI in 2016. Toyota has pushed back the debut of the 4th gen Prius, and stated the next gen PPI will come out after the new Prius. Since Toyota treats it as a separate model, I will not completely rollout a midcycle refresh. The shut down could be for that reason. If that happens, the PPI, with use of improved and cheaper battery chemistry, could keep the same EV range and performance at a reduced price, or increase the battery capacity. How much, depends on how much cargo space Toyota is willing sacrifice; I don't they'll have to give up much at all. to get to an EPA 15 miles.

 

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It likely did lead to shuffling goals. With the anti-nuclear sentiment, plug ins of all types became less attractive in Japan, and gave more focus to fuel cells. I can't say if it hurt the Prius PHV sales or not Japan, but it ended being more popular in the US than predicted(in sales ratio, not sales total, bisco). So production output should have switched to North America models. There might be something that made selling more cars in the US than in Japan unappealing to Toyota; like currency exchange rates, but I think that would also apply to the liftback also.

 

when you remove a post, you should add a beam to support the extra load.

 

Only when removing a post?

 

or a supporting wall.

 

GM didn't stick it out though, they made it worse by rolling out ELR.

Toyota's decision to stop, rather than continue down a losing path, is a wise business decision. Protraying the "cut your losses" situation as "getting cold feet" is not what an economics class would teach you.

Toyota also knows what's to come. Their awareness of what the upgrade will have to offer is something you're attempting to draw a conclusion about already, even without that information being available yet.

It's quite reasonable to expect higher density batteries at a lower cost. Why would you continue into untapped market with the older model when the new could offer more for less?