Featured Prius C is discontinued

The "family" is getting smaller once more.

 

i'll poly be next in our family

 

It is a good move for toyota, where us toyota dealers were confused, and the prius c (aqua in japan) had design choices made for the japanese market that didn't work out well for the american one. You want a hatch back hybrid with japanese styling you buy a prius, you want a sedan hybrid you get a corolla or camry hybrid depending on your size and luxury preferences, just like the standard ice versions.

They can probably produce a corolla hybrid in america at a lower cost than a japanese produced prius c. My one friend that bought a c was very disappointed with highway mileage, and the corolla hybrid is much better in that regard.

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Review: 2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid Is The Sane Car For Insane Times

 

This article was already shared when it first came out in February... Good riddance to a a lame car as far as I'm concerned. From the door lock issues, to leaking timing chain cover, to only 20 modules instead of 28 in the hybrid battery pack, it was a bad idea.

The whole vision that saw Gen 1 prius with the most modules in a pack, then in Gen2 with fewer modules but more motor-generator power to make up the difference for fewer modules, then Prius C dropping nearly a 1/3 of its modules, then Toyota refusing to compete with all electric cars... It's almost as if they were using the hybrid to transition back to fossil fuels, rather than away from fossil fuels entirely. Or at least that's what the Prius C symbolizes to me.

 

It will be interesting to hear John's take on this, considering he (in another thread) said;

skittish ..... I don't know exactly what that means, especially when those kinds of subjective words get 'condemed' when others use such descriptors.
But now we have the Prius V gone - AND the Prius C gone. How is THAT not skittish, in the same vein.
Also - how is it that GM &/or VW are 'give up entirely' just because USA buyers are crazy about bigger cars now like pickups & SUVs - along with traction pack constraint dynamics. GM still sells their plug in under a different moniker other than volt. In China .... it is THE really huge market now.
know your audience(s)
Or put more kindly, there maybe alternate rationales why manufacturers do what they do, (if one isn't looking through Jade colored lenses) sure - GM fans bag on Toyota products. So what. With each manufacturer trimming here, or adding something there, it doesn't necessarily mean a fail for 1 and a win for the other, or vice versa.
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This was expected with the way sales were going, and they aren't doing great for cars in general.
The Aqua may even come to an end in Japan. Or the Yaris hybrid will carry on the name there when it arrives.
Since even the Yaris hatchback in the US is a rebadged Mazda2 now, it is probably a safe bet we won't be getting that Yaris hybrid.

 

Just because some of you don't like the C, doesn't mean that nobody does.

Since it still will be available in other countries, I think it was a bonehead move to screw over the US owners that like it.

Right up there with Ford deciding not to produce "cars" anymore.

 

Wow, rebadged Mazda, for real? Do you have any links to more info... Explains why I always liked the shape of the Yaris... Mazda has some of the nicest body shapes on the market. Unlike Prius designers, Mazda understands the powerful beauty of simple designs.

 

There were very few buyers of this model, and Toyota isn't interested in losing money on a product that isn't selling in the US. Same fate as the Prius V, the Volt, the Ford Fusion, etc. Markets change and car manufacturers aren't generally in the business of losing money.

 

Automakers need a critical mass of people willing to purchase a vehicle for it to be profitable to sell in the market. Clearly, if Toyota thought they could make money selling the Prius C in the US, they'd continue selling it. There just weren't enough people buying it here.

 

2020 Toyota Yaris lineup will be completely Mazda-based, report says - Roadshow

yep with the mazda 2 based yaris sedan making over 90% of yaris sales, it makes sense to make the yaris hatch on the same platform as the sedan instead of the toyota japan yaris based hatch. The yaris sedan is made in a mexican mazda factory and my guess is the hatch will be made there as well.

 

Is this just USA? It's still a top seller for TOYOTA in Japan. The articles about the demise of the "c" are only USA journals - no mention here or elsewhere. I do understand - it was a budget model, and Corolla Hatch is about the same size (I think Corolla has a smaller boot from looking in, I didn't measure). Here, we didn't get the Crossover or Sport styling versions they got in Japan
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It's definitely leaving the US market. The Japanese market is totally different and from the sales figures you provided it appears the Aqua is selling reasonably well in Japan and may survive for a while.

 

That's because in Japan modesty, as well as being small compact and efficient are virtues.

Whereas in the US where we think we no longer need virtue, just hubris... Ostentatious vehicles and people boosting their fragile isolated egos with displays of the bigger the better means compact cars only sell well in big cities where being a big vehicle owner is too difficult.

 

Good time to buy a 'leftover' 2019.

Keep it for 15 years.
Trade it in for a BEV.

Win Win.

 

Or perhaps the C is a tiny little car that doesn't work in many areas of the country where you need AWD, higher ground clearance, or the ability to carry stuff. For the same reason you don't buy an F-250, that class of buyer isn't buying a C.

 

No thanks - the "c" was only a budget car, and was a bit ordinary. PRIUS is good in town and highway - "c" is only a city car - quite good at it though. But considerably less economical than PRIUS

 

This always puzzled me. The C got worse fuel economy than the Prius, and for not a lot less money. The appeal of a hybrid is typically fuel economy and the C seemed like a bad compromise - smaller car and worse mileage.

 

Yeah right, all the big bellied couch potatoes "need" a big powerful truck or SUV with 4wd and high clearance so they feel "safe" driving to McDonald's one freeway exit south of town... Besides it's the only time they feel good about themselves. Something about looking down on all the smaller vehicles really takes their inferiority issues away for a moment... But don't think about it too much, because eventually you'll realize it has a lot to do with the obesity epidemic and how even though they can no longer walk normally, they just feel better about themselves driving around in something that's way bigger than basic common sense knows is necessary.