Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, but Toyota North America released their Q1 US figures today. While I would ignore the percentage increase from 2023 to 2024 because gen5 Prius production was just ramping up this time last year, the 2024 numbers are looking pretty good. At 13,327 for Q1, the Prius is on track to sell 50k-55k this year in the US alone(HEV & PHEV combined). That would probably be the best selling year since 2017. Digging a bit deeper, there are more Primes being sold in the US than I thought vs. HEVs. 2024 Q1 HEV - 9420 (70.7%) 2024 Q1 PHEV - 3907 (29.3%) I expected it to be closer to 80/20 or even 90/10. Toyota Motor North America Reports March, First Quarter 2024 U.S. Sales - Toyota USA Newsroom https://s3.amazonaws.com/toyota-cms-media/toyota-pdfs/TMNA_US_March_2024_chart_FINAL.pdf
The huge production increase is all across the board. I can't believe they only sold 5,586 Priuses and Prius Primes in 2023. So, it will be ten times more in 2024—more than 50,000. That explains why I see some Gen 5s almost everyday now. Hopefully, it will also be the end of the Gen 5 markups. Interestingly, more Corolla hybrids are being sold than Gen 5 Priuses and Prius Primes combined. Last but not least, the SUV and truck sales are almost double the car sales. That shows where the hearts of the Americans are. The Corolla Hybrid LE (with the driver's-door smart key, alloy wheels, and BSM/RCTA package), Prius LE, and Prius SE cost $26k, $29k, and $34k, respectively. Their Consumer Reports road-test scores are 75, 76, and 78, respectively. So, the Corolla Hybrid LE is a lot more bang for the money.
This 139% increase from 2023 is pretty impressive given the supply constraints still going on. Toyota projected 35k or so for this year in North America, but they should blow past that easily with these numbers. Great news. Ya, that actually is interesting, and hopefully signals growing acceptance of PHEVs. I was looking just at allocation spreadsheets, and in the case of NX and RX, the PHEV component of hybrids is only 16% and 13% respectively. But they are a bit pricier than the Prius Prime, so it looks like the trend is that as price point is more acceptable, people will flock to PHEV more compared to HEVs. You can see the general trend here. Percent PHEV out of total hybrids and base MSRP Prius Prime 30% - $33k base NX450h+ 16% - $62k base RX450h+ 13% - $71k base Note that the base NX is around twice the price of the Prime, and is half the proportion of the Prime in the NX lineup. This might also be because of the price differential that Toyota applies between PHEV vs HEV, where higher cost lines have larger differentials.
The gen4 Prime was 25% to 50% of Prius sales. So this is a good sign Toyota has solved some supply issues there. Doesn't appear to have extended to the Rav4 Prime though.
No, you're reading the table wrong. Everything is about comparing March 2023 to March 2024, and Q1 2023 to Q1 2024. Toyota USA sold 5,586 Priuses(HEV+PHEV) in Q1 of last year, not in the entire year. They actually sold 38,052 Priuses in 2023, so it's looking like more of a 30% yearly increase from 2023 to 2024. Also, that story about the Corolla hybrid outselling the Priuses(I read it too) was flawed. It was comparing total 2023 production figures. But Prius production during the first half of 2023(and especially Q1) was significantly reduced as the new gen5 assembly line worked out all the kinks. Meanwhile, the Corolla line has been running for 6 or 7 years by this point and is at full speed. Now that the Prius assembly line is reaching full speed, it's extremely likely those sales results will be flipped for 2024. There's another article out there that's just as flawed the other way. It's headline says the ~135% increase in Q1 Prius sales show buyers want hybrids, not EVs. But that % increase is a mirage also caused by the low 2023 Q1 sales from the gen5 production line still spooling up. Here are the quarter by quarter Prius sales figures(HEV+PHEV): Q1 2023 - 5,586 Q2 2023 - 9,355 Q3 2023 - 12,949 Q4 2023 - 10,162* Q1 2024 - 13,327 *the drop is probably a combo of holidays plus that software glitch that shut down the production lines for a few days
I did a deeper dive into the numbers. It's going to be interesting to watch Corolla HEV numbers the rest of the year. Looking over the last couple quarters, it seems like it will still outsell the Prius in 2024. I'm wondering if that's due to the lower price(roughly $5k cheaper), the economy in general, or buyers who would rather have a Prius but can't get one. The other interesting thing is the overall low sales of hybrids in early 2023. It doesn't apply to every model, but it applies to most. I wonder if there was a battery shortage. If I knew the compositions of the batteries in the different models, it would be interesting to see if there was a correlation. Reminder that these are US-only sales numbers. Don't know if it matters, but I believe the only vehicle on this abridged list built in the US is the RAV4 HEV. Everything else is built in Japan and shipped over. I only included the models I was interested in. More models are available in the links at the bottom. Prius (HEV+PHEV) 2023 Q1 - 5,586 Q2 - 9,355 Q3 - 12,949 Q4 - 10,162 2024 Q1 - 13,327 Prius HEV (% of total Prius production) 2023 Q1 - 4,592 (82.2%) Q2 - 7,683 (82.1%) Q3 - 9,657 (74.6%) Q4 - 8,563 (84.3%) 2024 Q1 - 9,420 (70.7%) Prius Prime (% of total Prius production) 2023 Q1 - 994 (17.8%) Q2 - 1,672 (17.9%) Q3 - 3,292 (25.4%) Q4 - 1,599 (15.7%) 2024 Q1 - 3,907 (29.3%) Corolla HEV (% compared to total Prius production) 2023 Q1 - 12,454 (+123.0%) Q2 - 10,647 (+13.8%) Q3 - 13,638 (+5.3%) Q4 - 11,251 (+10.7%) 2024 Q1 - 15,589 (+17.0%) Camry HEV 2023 Q1 - 3,702 Q2 - 8,505 Q3 - 9,871 Q4 - 13,377 2024 Q1 - 8,986 RAV4 HEV 2023 Q1 - 19,633 Q2 - 37,575 Q3 - 46,121 Q4 - 57,796 2024 Q1 - 57,875 RAV4 Prime 2023 Q1 - 5,416 Q2 - 5,554 Q3 - 7,881 Q4 - 7,222 2024 Q1 - 7,767 Toyota Motor North America Reports March, First Quarter 2023 U.S. Sales - Toyota USA Newsroom Toyota Motor North America Reports U.S. June and First Half 2023 Sales Results - Toyota USA Newsroom Toyota Motor North America Reports U.S. September and Third Quarter 2023 Sales Results - Toyota USA Newsroom Toyota Motor North America Reports 2023 U.S. Sales Results - Toyota USA Newsroom Toyota Motor North America Reports March, First Quarter 2024 U.S. Sales - Toyota USA Newsroom
Ah, OK, here are the full (December) 2023 numbers: https://s3.amazonaws.com/toyota-cms-media/toyota-pdfs/TMNA-US-Dec-2023-chart-FINAL.pdf And the March 2024 numbers: https://s3.amazonaws.com/toyota-cms-media/toyota-pdfs/TMNA_US_March_2024_chart_FINAL.pdf
wow the bz4x is actually selling? I thought it was a terrible EV Also the Mirai, very low but still someone is buying them
they'd sell a lot more primes if they actually send ANY to the midwest... none within 500 miles of chicago. Was at the dealer today getting the windshield replaced on our bZ and they said they couldn't get one even at $10,000 over invoice. (windshield got hurt by a rock flying off a dump truck going the opposite direction)
It's not selling that much at all. I think it's maybe 1/20 the sales of the VW ID4 and 1/200 the sales of the Tesla Model Y. I'm not sure how many Toyota actually planned to sell, but they appear to be sitting on lots with aggressive incentives to sell.
Looking at previous years, even 55,000 Priuses seem to be about 15,000 cars short of the Prius demand. I expect the production to finally meet or exceed the demand in 2025—that's when we should start seeing dealer discounts and factory rebates again. Prius and Prius Prime sales in the US: 2023: 38,052 2022: 36,919 2021: 59,010 2020: 43,525 2019: 69,718 2018: 87,590 2017: 108,662 2016: 136,632 2015: 184,794 2014: 207,372 2013: 234,228 2012: 236,659 2011: 136,463 2010: 140,928 2009: 139,682 2008: 158,884 2007: 181,221 2006: 106,971 2005: 107,897
The corolla is much simpler a vehicle and its not a hatchback so less storage space in the trunk. I think its a bit smaller on the interior too? But they are more affordable with less power. I guess the prius is trying to be a bit sportier? Increasingly, with the hybrid options across the Toyota line, the prius is starting to lose its identity to some extent, but yeah bang for buck, if all you want is a commuter HEV that carries one or two people at a time - the corolla is a very good price point. When we need a second car, to just tote around groceries and short in town trips - I think a late model used corolla hybrid is in our future. I love the plug in prius, but we can't justify two plug ins for the amount the second car would drive. And really the prius is good enough for our needs in terms of storage. Though saying this a corolla cross hybrid or a corolla hatch hybrid as a second car might be even better for us. Something I can put more gardening related stuff in the trunk of than the prius will carry.
the corolla hatchback isn't available as a hybrid here, only the corolla cross. And it pushes prius pricing for a higher ride height and more storage, but slightly smaller interior space - though it does have a bit more headroom.
Current new car inventory at our nearby Toyota dealership, similar to a few months back. All I can think is they must be losing their minds.
I bet they are losing their minds. Toyota keeps shipping them bZ4Xs that they don't want and can't sell. Kind of like the half dozen Mustang Mach-Es at my local Ford dealership.
it's amazing how many cars toyota has built this year, and yet can't satisfy demand of certain models. if they are ever forced to seriously drop the price of bz4x, i would consider one.
So much for the 2024 sales exceeding 50,000, with the safety recall suspending the production indefinitely, possibly for several months.